1. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, any offence punishable under this Act (whether committed by a company or any officer thereof) with fine only, may, either before or after the institution of any prosecution, be compounded by—
a. the Tribunal; or
b. where the maximum amount of fine which may be imposed for such offence does not exceed five lakh rupees, by the Regional Director or any officer authorised by the Central Government, on payment or credit, by the company or, as the case may be, the officer, to the Central Government of such sum as that Tribunal or the Regional Director or any officer authorized by the Central Government, as the case may be, may specify:
Provided that: the sum so specified shall not, in any case, exceed the maximum amount of the fine which may be imposed for the offence so compounded:
Provided further that: in specifying the sum required to be paid or credited for the compounding of an offence under this sub-section, the sum, if any, paid by way of additional fee under sub-section (2 ) of section 403 shall be taken into account:
Provided also that any offence covered under this sub-section by any company or its officer shall not be compounded if the investigation against such company has been initiated or is pending under this Act.
2. Nothing in sub-section (1 ) shall apply to an offence committed by a company or its officer within a period of three years from the date on which a similar offence committed by it or him was compounded under this section.
Explanation.- — For the purposes of this section,
a. any second or subsequent offence committed after the expiry of a period of three years from the date on which the offence was previously compounded, shall be deemed to be a first offence;
b. "Regional Director" means a person appointed by the Central Government as a Regional Director for the purposes of this Act.
a. Every application for the compounding of an offence shall be made to the Registrar who shall forward the same, together with his comments thereon, to the Tribunal or the Regional Director or any officer authorised by the Central Government, as the case may be.
b. Where any offence is compounded under this section, whether before or after the institution of any prosecution, an intimation thereof shall be given by the company to the Registrar within seven days from the date on which the offence is so compounded.
c. Where any offence is compounded before the institution of any prosecution, no prosecution shall be instituted in relation to such offence, either by the Registrar or by any shareholder of the company or by any person authorised by the Central Government against the offender in relation to whom the offence is so compounded.
d. Where the compounding of any offence is made after the institution of any prosecution, such compounding shall be brought by the Registrar in writing, to the notice of the court in which the prosecution is pending and on such notice of the compounding of the offence being given, the company or its officer in relation to whom the offence is so compounded shall be discharged.
4. The Tribunal or the Regional Director or any officer authorised by the Central Government, as the case may be, while dealing with a proposal for the compounding of an offence for a default in compliance with any provision of this Act which requires a company or its officer to file or register with, or deliver or send to, the Registrar any return, account or other document, may direct, by an order, if it or he thinks fit to do so, any officer or other employee of the company to file or register with, or on payment of the fee, and the additional fee, required to be paid under section 403, such return, account or other document within such time as may be specified in the order.
5. Any officer or other employee of the company who fails to comply with any order made by the Tribunal or the Regional Director or any officer authorised by the Central Government under sub-section (4 ) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine not exceeding one lakh rupees, or with both.
6. Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973,
a. any offence which is punishable under this Act, with imprisonment or fine, or with imprisonment or fine or with both, shall be compoundable with the permission of the Special Court, in accordance with the procedure laid down in that Act for compounding of offences;
b. any offence which is punishable under this Act with imprisonment only or with imprisonment and also with fine shall not be compoundable.
7. No offence specified in this section shall be compounded except under and in accordance with the provisions of this section.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 441
Section 441 provides for the compounding of corporate offenses punishable with fine only, establishing the jurisdictional limits of the Regional Director (up to 25 lakh rupees) and the NCLT.
Upon compounding, no prosecution shall be instituted or continued.
Compounding under Section 441 is the primary tool used by corporate legal teams to resolve historical filing defaults, board procedural lapses, and late registrations. The decriminalization amendments to the Companies Act in 2019 and 2020 converted numerous technical offenses from criminal prosecutions into in-house administrative adjudication under Section 454, reserving Section 441 for remaining statutory fine-based offenses.