Perspectives on Law

In my earlier post  I discussed the recent judgment of the Bombay High Court, Harsha Nitin Kokate Vs. The Saraswat Co-op. Bank Limited & Others that gave an elevated status to a nominee u/s. 109A Companies Act. I will now examine provisions in respect of nomination found in laws, such as Insurance, Banking, Co-operative Societies, etc. Though the provisions in respect of nomination, in each statute may be worded differently, the legal position of a nominee has always been accepted to be that of a trustee and nomination is not considered to be a kind of testamentary succession. Since the function of a nominee in respect of a certain property, springs into operation on the death of the person nominating, enormous disputes have arisen between the legal heirs of the deceased on one hand and the nominee on the other, in respect of such property. Let us see the provisions in respect of nomination in areas other than Company Law. INSURANCE: The first of these disputes ...

The Hon'ble Bombay High Court in its very recent decision, Harsha Nitin Kokate Vs. The Saraswat Co-op. Bank Limited & Others , held that position of a nominee under section 109A of the Companies Act is not merely that of a trustee for the estate of the deceased, and it further held that, "  on the death of the share holder, the nominee would become entitled to all rights in the shares to the exclusion of all other persons ." This means that, the nominee will be made the beneficial  owner thereof and all the rights incidental to ownership of shares would follow i.e. the right to transfer, pledge or hold the shares. The court based its decision on the express provisions of the section which provide as follows: ­S. 109A. Nomination of shares – (1) Every holder of shares in, or holder of debentures of a company may, at any time, nominate, in the prescribed manner, a person to whom his shares in or debentures of,...