BODY CORPORATE

Body corporate broadly means a corporate entity which has a legal existence. The
term "body
corporate" is defined in Section 2(11) of the Companies Act, 2013. This includes a
private
company, public company, one personal company, small company, Limited Liability
Partnerships, foreign company etc. “body corporate” or “corporation” also includes
a company
incorporated outside India. However, body corporate does not include— (i) a co-
operative
society registered under any law relating to co-operative societies; and (ii) any
other body
corporate (not being a company as defined in the Companies Act 2013), which the
Central
Government may, by notification, specify in this behalf; The above definition is
different from
the provisions existed in the erstwhile companies Act 1956, which had excluded a
“corporation
sole” also from the definition of body corporate which was, however, not defined in
the Act of
1956.
Body corporate broadly means a corporate entity which has a legal existence. The
term "body
corporate" is defined in Section 2(11) of the Companies Act, 2013. This includes a
private
company, public company, one personal company, small company, Limited Liability
Partnerships, foreign company etc. “body corporate” or “corporation” also includes
a company
incorporated outside India. However, body corporate does not include— (i) a co-
operative
society registered under any law relating to co-operative societies; and (ii) any
other body
corporate (not being a company as defined in the Companies Act 2013), which the
Central
Government may, by notification, specify in this behalf; The above definition is
different from
the provisions existed in the erstwhile companies Act 1956, which had excluded a
“corporation
sole” also from the definition of body corporate which was, however, not defined in
the Act of
1956.
Following are not bodies corporates: 1) Proprietorship concern -- It is not a
separate legal entity
other than its proprietor and hence it is not a body corporate. 2) Society
registered under
Societies Registration Act is not a body corporate as held by Supreme Court in
Board of Trustees
Ayurvedic & Unani Tibia Collehe, Delhi v. State of Delhi, AIR 1962 SC 458. 3)
Partnership firm is
not a body corporate. 4. HUF - is not a body corporate 5. Mutual funds set up as
per SEBI
regulations run by trustees are not bodies corporate

Following are included in body corporate: 1. All Indian companies registered under
Companies
Act 2. All foreign companies 3. All corporations formed under special law of India
or any other
country 4. LLPs 5. Public financial institutions u/s 4A of Companies Act 1956 6.
Nationalised
banks incorporated under Banking Companies (Acquisition & Transfer of Undertakings)
Act
1970.
 CORPORATIONS
Statutory corporations are public enterprises brought into existence by a Special
Act of the
Parliament. The Act defines its powers and functions, rules and regulations
governing its
employees and its relationship with government departments.
This is a body corporate created by the legislature with defined powers and
functions and is
financially independent with a clear control over a specified area or a particular
type of
commercial activity. It is a corporate person and has the capacity of acting in its
own name.
Statutory corporations therefore have the power of the government and the
considerable amount
of operating flexibility of private enterprises. A few are:

 Airports Authority of India

 Damodar Valley Corporation
 National Highways Authority of India
 Central Warehousing Corporation (cewacor.nic.in/)
 Inland Waterways Authority of India (www.iwai.gov.in/)
 Food Corporation of India (fciweb.nic.in/)
 National Human Rights Commission (www.nhrc.nic.in/)
Features:

1. Generally financed by the central or state government.

2. May borrow funds from the public and government organisation through
statutory
sources.
3. They have separate legal entity.
4. They have to frame their own policies and procedures within the scope of
state
legislature.
5. Provide better services to public and make adequate profit.
6. They are autonomous in their functioning, thus, they enjoy operational
flexibility.
7. They can recruit and appoint their employees with their service condition,
since they are
a corporate body.
8. They have to follow the special statute strictly.
9. There is less government interference in matters of the corporation.
10. The members of the corporation have limited liability.