Q.State the qualifications a person must possess to be validly appointed as the Company Secretary of a company.

The Companies Act, 2013 sets one mandatory statutory qualification for the post, on top of which a company may add its own criteria.

The Companies Act, 2013 keeps the statutory qualification for the office of Company Secretary deliberately narrow but firm: the person appointed must be a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, the body established under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980 specifically to regulate this profession. This single requirement is what makes the office a professional one rather than an open administrative post that any employee could be assigned to by title alone.

ICSI membership is not granted automatically — a candidate must first clear the Institute's three-stage examination structure (the Foundation Programme, the Executive Programme, and the Professional Programme), each testing progressively deeper knowledge of company law, securities law, taxation, accounting, and allied subjects, and must also complete a period of prescribed practical training under a practising company secretary or within a company, so that the qualification certifies applied competence and not merely examination success. Only after satisfying both the examination and training requirements does the Institute admit a candidate to membership, at which point the candidate becomes eligible for appointment as a company secretary under the Companies Act, 2013. …