Every company shall have one or more company secretaries, each of whom must be a natural person and must be qualified under the law to act as company secretary for a company.
It is stated clearly in Section 139A that no person shall act as a secretary of a company unless —
(a) he is a member of a professional body, or any other body, which has for the time being been prescribed by the Minister by notification published in the Gazette; or
(b) he is licensed by the Registrar for that purpose (For example, A person licensed by SSM as LS & authorised to carry out the duty of company secretary)
Provided that a person who is a secretary of the company before the coming into operation of this section and who is not a member of a professional or other body as prescribed by the Minister may continue to act as the secretary for the company for a period of not more than twelve months after the coming into operation of this section unless he has obtained a licence pursuant to paragraph (b).
