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Declaration as to shares and debentures held in trust

Declaration as to shares and debentures held in trust :

Section – 153B. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in , where any shares in, or debentures of, a company are held in trust by any person (hereinafter referred to as the trustee), the trustee shall, within such time and in such form as may be prescribed, make a declaration to the public trustee.

(2) A copy of the declaration made under sub-section (1) shall be sent by the trustee to the company concerned, within twenty-one days, after the declaration has been sent to the public trustee.

(3)(a) If a trustee fails to make a declaration as required by this section, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees and in the case of a continuing failure, with a further fine which may extend to one hundred rupees for every day during which the failure continues.

(b) If a trustee makes in a declaration aforesaid any statement which is false and which he knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and also with fine.

(4) The provisions of this section and shall not apply in relation to a trust—

         (a )  where the trust is not created by instrument in writing ; or

         (b )  even if the trust is created by instrument in writing, [where the value of the shares in, or debentures of, a company, held in trust]—

      (i)  does not exceed one lakh of rupees, or

     (ii)  exceeds one lakh of rupees but does not exceed either five lakhs of rupees or twenty-five per cent of the paid-up share capital of the company, whichever is less [, or]]

      [( c)  where the trust is created, to set up a Mutual Fund or Venture Capital Fund or such other fund as may be approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India established under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992).]

[Explanation : The expression “the value of the shares in, or debentures of, a company” in clause (b) means,—

          (i )  in the case of shares or debentures acquired by way of allotment or transfer for consideration, the cost of acquisition thereof, and

         (ii )  in any other case, the paid-up value of the shares or debentures.]

[(5) The provisions of this section shall not apply on and after the commencement of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2000.]