Section 241 petition

A section 241 petition is the application a member makes to the National Company Law Tribunal under section 241 of the Companies Act, 2013 for relief against oppression or mismanagement. Standing is set by section 244: in a company with share capital, at least one hundred members or one-tenth of the members, whichever is less, or members holding one-tenth of the issued share capital with all calls paid. The tribunal may waive those requirements.

Section 422 says every endeavour shall be made to dispose of a petition within three months, extendable by up to ninety days, but a contested petition with a valuation dispute takes longer. In the illustration in our note of 21 September 2026, a 15 per cent holder in a company with INR 180 crore of turnover ends up about INR 4.99 crore worse off on a litigated buyout than on a negotiated exit, roughly 31 per cent of the pro rata value of the stake. The figure rests on stated assumptions and is not a benchmark.