Live Founding Cohort open, limited seats remaining Back to main site →

The primary-source pack every CS must bookmark

Every claim in this course cites a primary source. Six bookmarks and a search discipline is what separates a working practitioner from a fresher.

Free preview 6 min read Verified
Legal basis
Companies Act + MCA primary-source stack current to 10 August 2026. Core: Companies Act 2013 (Act 18 of 2013, assented 29 August 2013); Companies (Amendment) Acts 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020; Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act 2023; Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026 (JPC report tabled in both Houses on 3 August 2026, Bill not yet enacted). Rules: Companies (Specification of Definition Details) Amendment Rules 2025 (notified 1 December 2025, small-company threshold ₹10 crore / ₹100 crore); Companies (Incorporation) Rules 2014 (SPICe+); Companies (Management and Administration) Rules 2014 (MGT-7 / MGT-7A, Rule 20 e-voting); Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules 2014 (Rule 3 VC/OAVM, Rule 15 RPT); Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules 2014 (Rule 12A DIR-3-KYC); Companies (Prospectus and Allotment of Securities) Second Amendment Rules 2023 (Rule 9B dematerialisation) as extended by Amendment Rules dated 12 February 2025 to 30 June 2025; Companies (Audit and Auditors) Rules 2014; Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014; Companies (CSR Policy) Rules 2014 as amended by CSR Amendment Rules 2021, 2022, and CSR Policy Amendment Rules 2025 (effective 14 July 2025); Companies (Adjudication of Penalties) Amendment Rules 2024 (E-adjudication live 16 September 2024). Standards: Revised SS-1 and SS-2 approved by ICSI 13 February 2024, MCA-approved 2 January 2024, effective 1 April 2024. MCA Circulars: General Circular 01/2026 (CCFS-2026 launch 24 February 2026); General Circular 03/2026 (CCFS-2026 extended 8 July 2026 to 31 August 2026 after MCA21 data-centre fire of 5 June 2026). Enforcement: Supreme Court ruling of 9 January 2026 in Yerram Vijay Kumar v. State of Telangana (2026 INSC 42) on the Section 447 SFIO complaint gate; NFRA Delhi HC February 2025 and SC March 2025 rulings; FY 2024-25 MCA adjudication scale (approximately 1,150 RD/ROC orders; 15,837 strike-offs via C-PACE).

Every claim in this course is anchored to a primary source. When a claim you rely on turns out to be wrong (a Rule is amended, a form migrates to V3, a court judgment reshapes a provision), you need to re-verify from the primary source in ten minutes. Bookmark these six.

1. mca.gov.in

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal. This is the operating environment. Notifications, General Circulars, Rules, Forms, DIN services, SRN tracking, E-adjudication, C-PACE, all live here. Bookmark the Notifications page and the General Circulars page. Every serious MCA advice starts with a check of the latest Notifications and Circulars.

2. indiacode.nic.in

The consolidated bare text of the Companies Act 2013 and every notified amendment. Use this to quote a Section verbatim in a note to your Board or your partner. Cross-check the current version against the latest Amendment Act (Jan Vishwas 2023, and Corporate Laws Amendment Bill 2026 once enacted). Bookmark: https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/2114.

3. icsi.edu Secretarial Standards page

ICSI issues Secretarial Standards under Section 118(10). SS-1 and SS-2 are mandatory; SS-3 (Dividend) and SS-4 (Board Report) are recommendatory. Revised SS-1 and SS-2 effective 1 April 2024 are the current versions. Bookmark: https://www.icsi.edu/secretarial-standards/. Every board and general meeting should be run to these standards.

4. NCLT and NCLAT sites

National Company Law Tribunal (nclt.gov.in) handles Chapter XV (compromises, amalgamations) and Chapter XVI (oppression and mismanagement) matters, plus IBC petitions. National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (nclat.gov.in) hears appeals. Judgments are the ground truth for how Sections and Rules are actually interpreted.

5. main.sci.gov.in

Supreme Court of India judgments. The Section 447 SFIO-complaint-gate ruling in Yerram Vijay Kumar v. State of Telangana, 2026 INSC 42, decided on 9 January 2026 [L5-C1] is one example: it reshaped who can initiate a fraud prosecution under the Companies Act, holding that a private complaint under Section 212(6) is not maintainable. Any Supreme Court ruling on a Companies Act provision must be traced back to sci.gov.in and cited in your notes.

6. prsindia.org billtrack

Tracks the passage of amendment bills through Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, including JPC referral, JPC report, and enactment. The Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026 [L5-C2] was referred to a 31-member JPC; the JPC report was tabled in both Houses on 3 August 2026 endorsing ease-of-doing-business reforms, and the Bill is not yet enacted as of 10 August 2026. Bookmark billtrack.prsindia.org and check monthly during active session for the enactment step.

Search discipline

When you need to check whether a claim is still current, go in this order:

  1. Primary source (mca.gov.in, indiacode.nic.in, icsi.edu, nclt.gov.in, sci.gov.in, prsindia.org)
  2. The primary source's latest publication date
  3. Any pending amendment or petition that would change the reading

Never rely on a secondary summary as the sole basis for advice to your Board or your partner. If a secondary source says something material, follow the link and read the primary. That is the practitioner discipline.

What this course commits to

Every lesson carries citations back to the primary source, marked with the bracketed reference format you have seen in this module: for example [L5-C1]. Click the reference on any lesson page to open the citation register. When a Rule is amended or a form migrates, the affected lessons are updated within our stated SLA and enrolled learners receive an email flagging the change.

Every claim in this lesson is cited. Yellow markers like [L1-C1] are clickable. Click any to see the verbatim text of the Section, Rule or judgment we're relying on. Learn how we verify content ›

Preview complete You've read every free lesson in Module 1

Ready for the rest of Companies Act + MCA Practitioner Certification?

  • All 8 paid modules (29 lessons)
  • Complete citation register — every claim linked to the primary source
  • Final exam: 40 questions, unlimited retakes
  • Verifiable certificate with public verify URL and LinkedIn share
  • Founding-cohort badge on your certificate
Founding-cohort price. List: ₹14,999. Certificate on pass. LinkedIn-shareable. Lifetime access. Course updates included.
Citations
Supreme Court Section 447 Ruling 2026 INSC 42, SFIO Complaint Gate (Yerram Vijay Kumar, 9 Jan 2026) (SC 9 Jan 2026: Section 447 cognisance only on SFIO complaint) L5-C1
Supreme Court of India in Yerram Vijay Kumar v. State of Telangana, 2026 INSC 42, decided on 9 January 2026 by a bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, held that a private complaint under Section 212(6) of the Companies Act 2013 is not maintainable for a Section 447 fraud offence. Cognisance can be taken only on a complaint filed by the Director SFIO (Serious Fraud Investigation Office) or by an officer of the Central Government authorised in this behalf. This channels all Section 447 fraud prosecutions through the SFIO / Central Government gate. Practitioner impact: private complainants (aggrieved shareholder, creditor) must escalate to SFIO for investigation rather than filing directly; SFIO discretion becomes the effective enforcement filter.
Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026, Bill 2026 JPC Report Tabled (Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026 (JPC report tabled, not yet enacted)) L5-C2
Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026 introduced in Lok Sabha on 23 March 2026 and referred to a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee. JPC report tabled in both Houses of Parliament on 3 August 2026, endorsing ease-of-doing-business reforms. Proposed changes include: further decriminalisation of Companies Act offences; insertion of Section 454B for Recovery Officer with powers of attachment and sale; insertion of Section 454C for a Specified Authority to settle civil penalty proceedings on terms; amendments to related-party-transaction and CSR wording. Bill NOT yet enacted as of 10 August 2026. Course teaches as proposed; will be updated when enacted.
Free preview
Reading Module 1. Enrol to unlock the rest of the course.
Module 1: Foundations: the Act, the Rules, the MCA V3 portal reality
Module 2: Incorporation and post-incorporation compliance
  • SPICe+ Part A and Part B walkthrough
  • The first-year compliance clock
  • Registered office changes and INC-22 discipline
  • Object clause amendments and MGT-14
Module 3: Board governance: composition, meetings, resolutions, SS-1 discipline
  • Board composition under Section 149 and the independent-director rule
  • Section 173 board meeting cadence and VC/OAVM under Rule 3
  • Revised SS-1 effective 1 April 2024
  • Section 179 board powers vs Section 180 special-resolution matters
Module 4: General meetings, AGM, resolutions, SS-2 discipline
  • Section 96 AGM: timing, place, and ROC extension
  • Section 101 notice: 21 clear days, content, delivery
  • Quorum, chair, proxies, and e-voting under Rule 20
  • Revised SS-2 and Section 117 filing of resolutions
Module 5: Statutory filings and the annual filing cycle
  • The annual filing cycle: AOC-4 family and MGT-7 / MGT-7A
  • DIR-3-KYC: the annual DIN hygiene ritual
  • DPT-3, MSME-1, and other rolling filings
  • Late fees, additional fees, and the CCFS-2026 catch-up window
Module 6: CSR under Section 135: applicability, spend, reporting
  • Section 135: applicability thresholds and the 2% spend calculation
  • Unspent CSR Account and Schedule VII permitted activities
  • CSR-1 substituted July 2025 and CSR-2 annual reporting
  • CSR non-compliance and MCA enforcement pattern
Module 7: Directors, KMP, and related-party transactions
  • Director appointment, retirement, removal, and Section 164 disqualifications
  • Independent director qualification, IICA databank, and proficiency test
  • Section 203 KMP: MD/WTD, CFO, CS trigger
  • Related-party transactions under Section 188 and Rule 15
Module 8: Secretarial audit, MCA enforcement, and capstone
  • Section 204 secretarial audit and Form MR-3
  • E-adjudication and the MCA enforcement pattern
  • Strike-off under Section 248 and C-PACE
  • Jan Vishwas Act 2023 impact and NFRA context
  • Capstone: 12-month compliance calendar for a mid-market unlisted private company
Module 9: Final Exam and Certificate