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2020 ] GST ON ROC FILING FEE PAID BY COMPANIES/LLPS J83
registration, there are the number of other responsibilities that the ROCs are con-
ferred with. The Central Government exercises administrative control over these
offices through the respective Regional Directors (RD) who are in-charge of the
respective regions, each region comprising a number of States and Union territo-
ries. The functions of Registrar of Companies include :
• Section 77(2) - Issue certificate of registration of charge without
which the charge cannot be taken into account by liquidators or
creditors
• Section 78 - The Registrar gives a notice to the company in order to
enable it to inform whether the company has itself created a charge
and if it has not, then inform about the reason for the same
• Section 81 - Registrar is required to keep the register of charges in
respect of every company
• Section 93 - Return is to be filed with Registrar in case promoters’
stake changes
• Section 137 - Copy of Financial Statement to be filed with the Regis-
trar
• Section 157 - Company to inform the Registrar of the Identification
Number
• Section 208 - After inspection and inquiry, the Registrar is required
to submit a report in writing to the Central Government
Similarly, Registrar of Companies have the following powers :
• Section 7 - Registration of a company is obtained by filing an appli-
cation with the ROC
• Section 83 - Power to make entries of satisfaction and release with-
out intimation from company
• Section 206 - Power to call for information, inspect books and con-
duct inquiries
• Section 209 - Power of search and seizure
• Section 248 - Power to remove the name from the register of com-
panies
Since Registrar of Companies is specifically constituted under the Companies Act
for the purpose of registering companies and discharging various functions under
the Act, it is a statutory authority under the provisions of law.
Sovereign functions
Modern Democratic Governments undertake various welfare and com-
mercial activities apart from the regal or sovereign functions. Sovereign functions
of the State are not clearly demarcated in the Constitution. Broadly speaking,
sovereign functions are those actions of the State for which it is not answerable
before the Court of Law [see : Chief Conservator of Forests v. J.M. Khondare, (1996) 2
SCC 293]. Sovereign functions can only be discharged by the State and not by a
private person.
A Seven-Judges Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in
Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board v. A. Rajappa, (1978) 2 SCC 213, in the
context of Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, gave the term ‘sovereign or regal func-
tion’ of State a restricted meaning to only the primary and inalienable functions.

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