# Punishment for Personation of Shareholder (Section 57)

## What is 'Personation'?

Personation means deceitfully pretending to be:

(a) An owner of any security, or
(b) Owner of an interest in a company, or
(c) Owner of any share warrant or coupon issued under the Act.

…and thereby obtaining or attempting to obtain such security/interest/warrant/coupon, or receiving or attempting to receive money due to the actual owner.

## Punishment

Punishment	Minimum	Maximum
Imprisonment	1 year	3 years
Fine	₹1 lakh	₹5 lakh

Both imprisonment AND fine are mandatory (use of 'and' in the section).

## Distinction from Section 38

Aspect	Section 38	Section 57
Context	Personation for acquisition of securities during application	Personation as owner of existing security/interest/warrant
Punishment provision	Section 447 (fraud — general)	Section 57 itself (specific)

## Cross-Reference to IPC

Under Section 416 of the IPC, 1860, cheating by personation is an offence punishable under Section 419 IPC — imprisonment up to 3 years, or fine, or both. Section 57 is stricter because both imprisonment AND fine are mandatory with prescribed minimums.

## Key Takeaway

Section 57 is a specific anti-impersonation provision for share dealings, distinct from the general Section 38/447 framework for application-stage personation.

Worked example

### Example 1

Example 1 — Pure personation: Mr. X deceitfully claims to be Mr. Y (registered shareholder of ABC Ltd.) and attempts to collect dividend of ₹50,000 due to Mr. Y. Mr. X is liable under Section 57: imprisonment 1–3 years AND fine ₹1–5 lakh.

### Example 2

Example 2 — Application-stage fraud: Mr. P applies for shares of a public issue using a fictitious name. This is covered by Section 38 (not Section 57) and punishable under Section 447 (fraud).

### Example 3

Example 3 — Attempt is also punishable: Mr. Q forges identity documents and attempts (but fails) to collect a duplicate share warrant. Even the attempt attracts full punishment under Section 57.

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

Confusing Section 38 (personation at application stage → Section 447) with Section 57 (personation as owner of existing securities).
Thinking imprisonment OR fine is enough — under Section 57, both are mandatory.
Believing only successful personation is punishable — attempt is equally punishable.
Comparing Section 57 with IPC Section 419 and assuming punishments are identical — IPC allows imprisonment OR fine; Section 57 mandates both with minimums.

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

If any person deceitfully personates as an owner of any security or interest in a company, or as an owner 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, such person 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.

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