A GUIDE TO COMPANY SECRETARIAL PRACTICE / ADVANCED COMPANY LAW AND PRACTICE - MODULE 1 - CS PROFESSIONAL
Dear CS Professional Students,
Many Thanks for your Appreciation of my Articles on How to Deal with CS Final Advance Tax & How to Deal with CS Final Finance Treasury and Forex Management. I have received Many Requests from students to Provide Guidance on the Core Subject in CS Professional Level i.e Company Secretarial Practice / Advanced Company Law and Practice as many of you faced difficulties in clearing this subject. So, I have prepared this article which will try to help you making an strategy to clear the Subject.
The institute expects you to study deeply rather than just going through. What’s My experience with this subject is Until and unless you read between the EXPERT LEVEL Paper one for Both the Old and New syllabus of CS Profession Examination is the core subject of the Company Secretary Professional Course. The Level of Preparation Required to Pass the subject is lines , understand the concepts perfectly, go through the latest amendments you can’t think of passing this subject.
CSP/ACLP is a Complete theory based Subject and requires extraordinary writing skills, use of relevant sections and problem solving approach. Yes, I agree Company Law Subject was there in CS Executive but the questions asked there were direct and scanner based. But when you prepare this subject for CS Professional you need to interpret law like an expert. As after passing you final exams you will be appointed as a CS and institute wants you to perform excellently and not like a general student.
Tips which will help you get a Grip on the Subject are :
a. First thing first it is very important to start your training to get a grip on this subject. Once you have started your training with a PCS/ Company, E-forms will be easy for you. Remember there will be lot of 1 mark questions on E-forms- this will be pretty easy for you, I will suggest you to make a list of IMP Forms under companies act 13 and their attachments. There are Huge number of forms that need to be filed with ROC and until and unless you make a list of them and learn it your answers won’t be complete.
b. Make it a habit to read stuffs with the help of Sections. Answers quoted with sections and rules will definitely be rewarded more. Like there is a question of CS Appointment. So, Along with the Provisions of Act, Here you also need to mention Sec 204 of C.A13, Companies (Appointment and Remuneration of Managerial Personnel Rules) 2015 and also if the Form No. of Eforms required to be Filed MR-1 , MGT 14, DIR – 12 and the time period with which they should be filled. That will be the Complete answer. Don’t Provide any chance to the Examiner to deduct your Marks. There is a miss– conception with students that No, Matter how much you write, In theory you just can’t score more that Avg. Marks. But that’s not the case, If you write completely you will get the marks allotted.
c. While answering theory questions make it a habit that you won’t write them for number of pages ! No one has time to read the never ending answers ! Be specific, Write in points or paragraphs. Write legibly and Highlight the Points you think are important. Like Sec. No. , Form No. Etc. That draws the attention of the examiner and he will believe that the answer sheet he is checking belongs to someone who is talented and not an average student.
d. Some students have a habit of Reading only the Important questions rather than going through the Bare Act. Companies Act 2013 is an act which is changing every now and then and the changes made are so minute that until and unless you prepare for an Updated Bare Act you won’t be able to answer correctly.
e. One more miss - conception with students is that they will understand the provisions but write it in their own language. Just imagine how can you the language of an Act ?? While writing a provision you have to write the language as used in the Act. You can’t make your own Act and write things which don’t Exist ! So, Please try to remember the key aspects of law and then answer your paper like an Expert providing solutions to the queries asked.
f. Read more and more case laws. If you have the habit of reading novels read the case laws just like you do for novels. In the beginning you will find it difficult. Probably you can do this as a team by reading case laws overnight and discussing about it with your colleagues – kind of quiz or something. The idea is to make learning interesting. Remember you will get all these chances only when you are in training period. Grab that opportunity with both hands. Quoting a relevant case laws instantly changes the view of your examiner and will help you gain some extra marks from him.
g. While Preparing remember the Pass Percentage of the CS Final stage are very less. The few people who pass are those who prepare smartly and answer smartly. Time Management and Final Revision in exam is VIMP. Complete the Syllabus THRICE or MORE before Exams. The Syllabus is huge give no chance to forget anything you learnt. Avoid Asking Friends in EXAM HALL. No one knows better than you. People mostly go with flow and then the whole hall writes a wrong answer !
h. Suppose, When you get the Question Paper and the first Compulsory question you see is of 10 Marks and you know nothing About it. DO NOT PANIC. Examination nervousness is one of the most important reason of Failure. It might be that other 90 Marks Questions are easy and you could score good there but due to your nervousness you spoil the full paper. The same thing happened with me and then I learned to overcome it. In Exam halls there are many who will start telling that the paper is though and this time also we all will fail ! DO NOT Listen to them So people have an intention to make others nervous. Remember This is a Professional Competition Exam and everyone wants to pass but the % of students passing is limited. All these are mind games so do not get in to such traps.
i. While Preparing you may test yourself by answering the Past Questions but This Subject is NOT like others where you expect question to be repeated. 99% chances are Questions in this subject won’t be repeated ever. There is no dearth of new questions so to answer in exam only thing which will rescue you is the UPDATED Bare act and ICSI Study Material. (Amendments made upto 30th June 2015 are Applicable for DEC 2015 Exams.)
j. While almost all the chapters are important but please do not omit these Chapters: Recent Trends And Developments In Company Law, Trusts And Non Profit Organization and SEBI Insider Trading Regulation 2015 (NOT the 1991) & its Case Laws. We all make a mistake by omitting these chapter thinking they are not important but trust me there will definitely be couple of questions on this chapter and you need to read this from the ICSI Mat.
k. Try drafting more and more resolutions and not the easy ones most of the resolutions are there in the Study Mat after each chapters. Practice that on a daily basis. It’s not that difficult guys and mostly in CSP/ACLP Resolutions are compulsory questions so you need to take care of this.
l. Please do not quote wrong section numbers and answers and irritate the examiner. If you can’t recollect the particular Section, then better to write “ as per the provisions of Companies Act,2013/1956” rather than quoting a wrong section.
m. Suggestion- Please buy Sangeet Kedia’s book as per new act for this subject as reference along with Taxman’s Bare Act with Comments and the ICSI Study Mat.
Best of Luck ! 
- CS Rahul Harsh - An Associate Member of the ICSI and A Commerce Graduate from Kolkata, Currently employed with Aanchal Ispat Limited as an Assistant Company Secretary.
Contact - csrahulharsh@gmail.com
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