# Punishment for Personation of Shareholder (Section 57)

## What is Personation?

Personation means falsely impersonating another person who is the true owner of securities or interests in a company, in order to wrongfully obtain rights or money.

## Essentials of the Offence

### 1. Intentional Act

The person must intentionally personate as the owner of:

Any security or interest in a company, or
Any share warrant or coupon issued under the Act.

### 2. Acts Constituting the Offence

The impersonator:

Obtains or attempts to obtain any such security, interest, share warrant, or coupon; OR
Receives or attempts to receive any money due to the rightful owner.

## Punishment

Component	Minimum	Maximum
Imprisonment	1 year	3 years
Fine	₹1,00,000	₹5,00,000

Both imprisonment AND fine are mandatory (cumulative, not alternative).

## Key Notes

The offence is committed even on an attempt - actual success is not required.
Intent (mens rea) is essential.

Worked example

### Example 1

Example: Mr. X obtains a duplicate share certificate by impersonating Mr. Y, the actual owner of 500 shares of ABC Ltd. He also attempts to claim dividend due to Y.

Solution: Mr. X is liable under Section 57. He may be punished with:

Imprisonment from 1 year to 3 years, AND
Fine from ₹1,00,000 to ₹5,00,000.

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

Treating imprisonment and fine as alternative punishments - both are mandatory under Section 57.
Believing the offence requires actual receipt of benefit - even an attempt is punishable.
Ignoring the requirement of intent (mens rea) for personation.

Bare-Act text Section 57 · Companies Act, 2013 · click to expand

If any person deceitfully personates as an owner of any security or interest in a company, or of any share warrant or coupon issued in pursuance of this Act, and thereby obtains or attempts to obtain any such security or interest or any such share warrant or coupon, or receives or attempts to receive any money due to any such owner, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to three years and with fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but which may extend to five lakh rupees.

Now that you've read this — what's next?

Move from understanding → mastery in 3 clicks. Each option below picks up from this lesson's topic.

🔥 Drill 5 Qs on this → ✍️ Adaptive practice →

Punishment for Personation of Shareholder [Section 57]

Worked example

⚠️ Common exam mistakes