Mr. Prem and his wife, Mrs. Archna jointly hold shares of ABC Limited in a dematerialised (Demat) account. In such circumstances, which of the joint…

Joint shareholders must concur in voting unless the articles provide to the contrary. The voting in case of joint shareholders is done in the order of seniority, which is determined on the basis of the order in which their names appear in the register of members/ shareholders. The joint- holders have a right to instruct the company as to the order in which their names are to appear in the register. As per Rule 21 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014, the Scrutinizers shall arrange for Polling papers and distribute them to the members and proxies present at the meeting; in case of joint shareholders, the polling paper shall be given to the first named holder or in his absence to the joint holder attending the meeting as appearing in the chronological order in the folio. Thus, in the given case, 'Mr. Prem' or his wife 'Mrs. Archna', whosoever names appear first in chronological order in the register of members/shareholders shall be entitled to vote.