02/05/2026
Secretarial Tips: 104/2026
Subject: Rules regarding Voting of Members in a General Meeting.
Shareholders may claim the use of voting as a matter of right. Such right is endowed to them by section 85(1). But to exercise the right to vote, a shareholder must be present in person or proxy.
The rules regarding voting are:
As per Section 85 (2) of the Companies Act, 1994:
1. In the case of company originally having a share, capital, every member shall have one vote in respect of each share or each hundred taka of stock held by him, and in any other cases very member shall have one vote; [Section 85 (2)(d)]
2. On a poll, votes may be given either personally or by proxy [Section 85 (2)(d)] i.e., in case of show hand a proxy cannot vote. But this rule has some exception in case of company representative and legal guardian of the member of unsound mind. A representative appointed by a corporation (not a proxy) is entitled to exercise the same rights and powers, including voting on a show of hands, as if they were an individual shareholder [Section 86 of the Companies Act, 1994].
As per Schedule I of the Companies Act, 1994:
1. On a show of hands every member present in person shall have one vote. On a poll, every member shall have one vote in respect of each share or each hundred taka of stock held by him. [Regulation 61]
2. In the case of joint-holders, the vote of the senior who tenders a vote, whether in person or by proxy, shall be accepted to the exclusion of the votes of the other joint-holders; and for this purpose, seniority shall be determined by the order in which the names stand in the register of members. [Regulation 62]
3. A member of unsound mind, or in respect of whom an order has been made by any court having jurisdiction in lunacy, may vote whether on a show of hands or on poll, by his committee or other legal guardian, and any such committee or guardian may vote by proxy. [Regulation 63]
4. No member shall be entitled to vote at any general meeting unless all calls or other sums presently payable by him in respect of shares in the company have been paid. [Regulation 64]
5. On a poll, votes may be given either personally or by proxy, by a member company shall not vote by proxy so long a resolution of its directors in accordance with provisions of section 86 of the Companies Act, 1994, is in force. [Regulation 65]