Q.Under Section 2(24) of the Companies Act, 2013, a person can be legally titled 'Company Secretary' only if they are:
(A) A graduate in Commerce
(B) A member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI)
(C) An employee with five years' experience in the company
(D) A practising Chartered Accountant

Section 2(24) cross-refers to Section 2(1)(c) of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980, which ties the title 'company secretary' specifically to ICSI membership.

Work through each option against the rule stated above; none of the other qualifications named satisfies the statutory cross-reference to the Company Secretaries Act, 1980.

Section 2(24) of the Companies Act, 2013 defines 'company secretary' by cross-reference to Section 2(1)(c) of the Company Secretaries Act, 1980, which defines the term as a person who is a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

Option-by-option analysis:

• (A) Incorrect — a Commerce degree alone satisfies no part of the statutory definition; it may be a step towards ICSI entry but is not itself the qualification.
• (B) Correct — ICSI membership is exactly what both Acts, read together, require.
• (C) Incorrect — years of general employment experience, without ICSI membership, do not confer the statutory title.
• (D) Incorrect — a Chartered Accountant is a member of ICAI, a separate professional body governing a different profession, not ICSI.

Confusing the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) — the two are separate statutory professional bodies governing entirely different qualifications.