The Societies Registration (Amendment) Act, 1912

Notwithstanding anything contained in section 14 of the Societies Registration Act, 1860, hereinafter called "the said Act," it shall be lawful for the members of any society dissolved under section 13 of the said Act to determine by a majority of the votes of the members present personally or by proxy at the time of dissolution of such society that any property whatsoever remaining after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities shall be given to Government to be utilised for any of the purposes referred to in section 1 of the said Act.

In section 12 of the Societies Registration Act, 1860, hereinafter called the said Act, after the words "other society" the words "or whenever the governing body of any society registered under this Act decides to change the name of the society" shall be inserted.

1. (1) Where a proposition for change of name has been agreed to and confirmed in the manner prescribed by section 12, a copy of the proposition so agreed to and confirmed shall be forwarded to the Registrar of Companies for registering the change of name. If the proposed name is identical with that by which any other existing society has been registered, or in the opinion of the Registrar so nearly resembles such name as to be likely to deceive the public or the members of either society, the Registrar shall refuse to register the change of name.
2. (2) Save as provided in sub-section (1), the Registrar shall, if he is satisfied that the provisions of this Act in respect of change of name have been complied with, register the change of name and issue a certificate of registration altered to meet the circumstances of the case. On the issue of such a certificate the change of name shall be complete.
3. (3) The Registrar shall charge for any copy of a certificate issued under sub-section
4. (2) a fee of rupee one and all fees so paid shall be accounted for to the Provincial Government. 12-B. Effect of change of name The change in the name of a society shall not affect any rights or obligations of the society or render defective any legal proceeding by or against the society; and any legal proceeding which might have been continued or commenced by or against it by its former name may be continued or commenced by or against it by its new name. 12-C. Registration of change of names effected before coming into force of Bom. LIII of If any society registered under this Act has, before the date of the coming into force of the Societies Registration (Bombay Amendment) Act, 1948, intimated to the Registrar of Companies the change of its name and if the Registrar has recorded such change, the Registrar may, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, on an application made by the society in this behalf and on payment of a fee as provided for in sub-section
5. (3) of section 12-A, register the change of such name and issue a certificate to the society under sub-section
6. (2) of the said section 12-A. On the issue of such certificate the change shall be deemed to be complete from the date on which such change was recorded by the Registrar, notwithstanding the fact that the society had not followed the procedure prescribed in sections 12 and 12-A. 1-A. Interpretation In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant to the subject or context, the expression ' Registrar ' means the Registrar of Societies appointed under section 1-B and includes other officers appointed under the said section to exercise the powers and to perform the duties and functions of the Registrar of Societies. 1-B. Registrar of Societies and Assistant Registrars
7. (1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a person to be called the Registrar of Societies who shall exercise such powers and shall perform such duties and functions as are conferred by or under the provisions of this Act and shall, subject to such general or special orders as the State Government may make, superintend the administration and carry out the provisions of this Act throughout the State.
8. (2) The State Government may also by like notification appoint persons to be called ' Assistant Registrars of Societies ' for such areas as may be specified in the notification and empower them to exercise powers and to perform duties and functions under all or such provisions of this Act as may be specified in the notification. 3. Amendment of sections 1 and 4 of Act No. XXI of In sections 1 and 4 of the said Act, the words " of Joint-stock Companies " shall be deleted. 4. Amendment of section In section 12-A of the said Act, in sub-section (1), the words " of Companies " shall be delted. 5. Pending proceedings and construction of references to Registrar of Companies in instruments issued or made before this Act
9. (1) All proceedings under the said Act pending before the Registrar of Companies at the date of the commencement of this Act shall stand transferred to the Registrar of Societies and any such proceeding shall be continued and disposed of by the Registrar or by such Assistant Registrar of Societies as the Registrar of Societies may direct, as if it had been originally instituted before such Registrar or Assistant Registrar, as the case may be, under the said Act.
10. (2) In all certificates of registration and in all rules or by-laws of societies and in all other instruments issued or made under the said Act before the commencement of this Act, references to the Registrar of Joint-stock Companies or the Registrar of Companies shall be deemed to be and be construed as references to the Registrar of Societies. 6. Amendment of section 19 of Act XXI of In section 19 of the principal Act, for the words "and any person may require a copy or extract of any document or any part of any document, to be certified by the registrar, on payment of two annas for every hundred words of such copy or extract" the words "or may require the Registrar to give him a certified copy or extract of any document or any part thereof on payment of such fee as the State Government or any officer authorised by it may by notification in the Official Gazette fix in that behalf" shall be substituted. 7. Amendment of section 20 of Act XXI of Section 20 of the principal Act shall be renumbered as sub-section
11. (1) of that section and after sub-section
12. (1) so renumbered, the following sub-section shall be added, namely:— "(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), any society registered under the Public Societies Registration Act for any public or religious purpose and operating in the Hyderabad area of the State of Bombay at the commencement of the Societies Registration (Bombay Extension and Amendment) Act, 1958, shall be deemed to be and continue to be registered under this Act." 8. Savings
13. (1) The repeal, by clause
    • (a) of section 2 of this Act, of the Public Societies Registration Act and the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as applied by the State of Saurashtra (Application of Central and Bombay Acts) Ordinance, 1948, shall not affect the previous operation of any of the Acts so repealed and anything done or action taken (including any appointments made, memoranda of association or other documents filed, certificates of registration granted, assent or consent granted or given, orders or directions issued or any proceedings instituted before any Registrar or other Officer or authority) by or under the provisions of any of the Acts so repealed shall, so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of the principal Act as extended and amended by this Act (hereinafter referred to as "the said Act"), be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of the said Act and shall continue in force unless and until superseded by anything done or any action taken under the said Act.
14. (2) Accordingly all the societies registered under any of the Acts repealed as aforesaid the registration of which is in force at the commencement of this Act shall on such commencement be deemed to be registered under the said Act; and all proceedings pending immediately before the commencement of this Act before any Registrar or other officer or authority under the provisions of any of the Acts so repealed shall stand transferred, where necessary, to the Registrar or other corresponding officer or authority under the said Act, and if no such officer or authority exists or if there be a doubt as to the corresponding officer or authority to such officer or authority as the State Government may designate, and shall be continued and disposed of before such officer or authority in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. 3A. Prohibition against registration of societies with undesirable names No society shall be registered by a name which, in the opinion of the Registrar is undesirable, being a name which is identical with, or which in the opinion of the Registrar so nearly resembles the name by which any other existing society has been previously registered, as to be likely to deceive the public or members of either society, or which, without the previous permission of the Government concerned, suggests or is calculated to suggest the patronage of that Government or connection with any body constituted by that Government or any local authority, or which, may, subject to any rules made in this behalf, be deemed to be undesirable by the Registrar. 4A. Power of Registrar to call for information from governing body of society and provisions relating thereto
15. (1) The Registrar may serve or cause to be served, on the governing body entrusted with the management of the affairs of any society registered under this Act, a notice requiring it to furnish in such manner as may be prescribed by rules, information or returns relating to persons employed by the society, their conditions of employment (including their emoluments, any contributions, from concessions or other benefits and amenities provided for employees) and matters relating thereto, as may be prescribed by such rules.
16. (2) The form in which such information or returns should be furnished, the particulars which they should contain and the intervals (if any) in which such information or returns should be furnished, shall be such as may be prescribed by rules.
17. (3) The notice referred to in sub-section
18. (1) may be served by post.
19. (4) No information or return collected for the purposes of this section shall, without the previous consent in writing of the society in relation to which the information or return was given or made, be published in such manner as would enable any particulars to be identified as referring to a particular society.
20. (5) Except for the purposes of a prosecution under section 11A or under the Indian Penal Code, no person other than the Registrar or any person duly specified in this behalf, shall be permitted to see any information or return furnished as aforesaid.
21. (6) No suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against the Registrar or any person acting under the authority of the Registrar in respect of anything in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of this section. 11A. Penalty for contravening section If the governing body entrusted with the management of the affairs of any soceity registered under this Act required to furnish any information or return—
    • (i) wilfully refuses or without lawful excuse neglects to furnish such information or return as may be required under section 4A ; or
    • (ii) wilfully furnishes or causes to be furnished any information or return which it knows, to be false ; or
    • (iii) refuses to answer or wilfully gives a false answer to any question necessary for obtaining any information required to be furnished under section 4A. such governing body, shall for each such offence, on conviction, be punished with fine which may extend to fifty rupees. 11B. Penalty for improper disclosure of information or return If the Registrar or any person duly authorised by him in connection with the collection of any information or returns under this Act wilfully discloses any information or the contents of any return given or made under this Act otherwise than in the execution of his duties under this Act or for the purposes of the prosecution, of an offence under this Act or the Indian Penal Code, he shall on conviction, be punished for such offence with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees. 11C. Cognisance of offences No prosecution for an offence under section 11A shall be instituted, except by or with the sanction of the Registrar, and no prosecution under section 11B shall be instituted except by or with the consent of the State Government.

(a) in sub-section (1), for the portion beginning with the words " If the proposed name " and ending with the words " or the members of either soceity ", the words, figure and letter " If the proposed change in name is in his opinion undesirable for any of the reasons mentioned in section 3A " shall be substituted. (b) after sub-section (3), the following shall be added, namely :— " (4) If, through inadvertence or otherwise, a society is registered by a name, which should not have been registered (due regard being had to the provisions of section 3A), the Registrar may, after hearing the party concerned, direct the society to change the name ; and the society shall change its name within a period of three months from the date of the direction in accordance with the provisions of this Act or such longer period as the Registrar may think fit to allow."

1. (1) Every governing body entrusfed with the management of the affairs of a society registered under this Act (not being a public trust within the meaning of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950) shall keep regular accounts.
2. (2) Such accounts shall be kept in such form as may be approved by the Registrar, and shall contain such particulars as may be prescribed by rules.
3. (3) The accounts shall be balanced each year on the thirty-first day of March or such other day as may be fixed by the Registrar.
4. (4) The accounts shall be audited annually in such manner as may be prescribed by rules and by a person who is a chartered accountant within the meaning of the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949, or by such other persons as may be authorised in this behalf by the State Government.

1. (1) It shall be the duty of every auditor auditing the accounts of a society under section 12D to prepare a balance sheet and income and expenditure account and to forward a copy of the same to the Registrar.
2. (2) The auditor shall in his report specify all cases of irregular, illegal or improper expenditure, or failure or omission to recover moneys or other property belonging to the society or of loss or waste of money or other property thereof; and state whether such expenditure, failure, omission, loss or waste was caused in consequence of breach of trust, or misapplication or any other misconduct on the part of the governing body or any other person.

In section 19 of the principal Act, for the words " Any person may inspect " the words, figure and letter " Except as otherwise provided by section 4A, any person may inspect " shall be substituted.

1. (1) The State Government may, subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
2. (2) Every rule made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree, that the rule should not be made, the rule shall from the date of publication of a notification in the Official Gazette, of such decision have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done or omitted to be done under that rule.