Who can apply to the Company Law Board for relief in case of oppression

that in addition to the provisions of the Act being complied with: (a) the members or
creditors or any class of them are fairly represented by those who attended the meeting;
(b) that the statutory majority was acting bonafide and those of the class represented by
them; and (c) that the arrangement is such that an intelligent honest l::1(1n belonging to
the class concerned or affected might reasonably approve.
(iii) In case of Oppression or Mismanagement u/s 397 or 398. Where the affairs of a company are alleged to be conducted in a manner prejudicial to the interest of the company or the public or are in any manner oppressive to any member or members, Section 399 provides that the following members may petition to the Company Law Board for relief:
(a)
In the case of a company having a share capital. At least 100 members o( the company or 1/10th of the total number of its members, whichever is less, or any number of members holding not less than l/lOth of the issued share capital of the company. The applicants must have paid all calls and other sums due on their shares.
(b) In the case of a company not having share capital. At least 1/5th of the total number of members. However, the Central Government may, on application, allow any member or members to apply to the Company Law Board, if, in its opinion, circumstances exist which make it just and equitable to do so.
Once the consent of the requisite number has been obtained and the application made, withdrawal of consent by some of them shall not affect the right of the application to proceed with the application (Rajahmundry Electric Supply Co. Ltd. Vs. A. Nageshwara Rao). Similar view was expressed by the Punjab High Court in Jagdish Chand Mehra Vs. The New India Embroidery Mills. The Court said, "The validity of the petition must be judged on the facts as they are at the time of its presentation. Neither the right of the applicant to proceed with the application, nor the jurisdiction of the Court to dispose it off on its own merits, can be affected by events happening subsequent to the presentation."
Q:2.
(a) When can the oppression and mismanagement be complained of in a
company. .
(b) Who can apply to the Company Law Board for relief in case of oppression
and mismanagement? fC.A. (Final) May, 1986J
Ylns .
(a) The terms 'oppression' and 'mismanagement' have not been defined under the Companies Act, 1956. However, one may infer from the wording of Section 397 that oppression takes place and can be complained of when the affairs of a company are being conducted in a manner prejudicial to public interest or in a manner oppressive to any member or members.
In the words of Justice Buckley, "Oppression" occurs when shareholders, having a dominant power in a company, either (1) exercise that power to procure that something is done or not done in the conduct of the company's affairs, or (2) procure
by an express or implicit threat of an exercise of that power that something is not done
in the conduct by the company's affairs, and when such conduct is unfair or burdensome, harsh or wrongful to the other members of the company or some of them, and