Question

Which of following is a ground recognized under the Companies Act for automatic adjournment of the General Meeting.

• A. Absence of Chairman of the meeting
• B. Quorum of the meeting is not present
• C. Meeting is held at a place different from what was prescribed in the notice
• D. Death of any of the directors prior to the meeting

Hint:

In company law, remember: \textbf{No Quorum = No Meeting}. If the minimum required members are not present, the meeting cannot proceed and is automatically adjourned by law.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks for the specific reason that leads to an "automatic adjournment" of a general meeting of a company as per the Companies Act, 2013. An automatic adjournment means the meeting is postponed by operation of law, without any formal decision or resolution.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Section 103 of the Companies Act, 2013, deals with the 'Quorum for meetings'. A quorum is the minimum number of members that must be present for a meeting to be validly held.
Section 103(2) states that if the quorum is not present within half-an-hour from the time appointed for holding a meeting of the company:
(a) the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week at the same time and place, or to such other date and at such other time and place as the Board may determine; or
(b) the meeting, if called by requisitionists under section 100, shall stand cancelled.
This provision for the meeting to "stand adjourned" is an automatic adjournment. The other options are not grounds for such an automatic adjournment:
- Absence of a Chairman (A): The members present can elect one of themselves to be the Chairman (Section 104).
- Wrong venue (C) or death of a director (D): These might make the meeting irregular but do not trigger an automatic adjournment under the Act.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The absence of a quorum within half an hour of the scheduled time is the specific ground that triggers the automatic adjournment of a general meeting under Section 103 of the Companies Act. Therefore, option (B) is correct.