What is actually different about closing a company in Junagadh?
Less than most pages claim, and being precise about it saves you from paying for variation that does not exist.
- Processed byRegistrar, C-PACE
- STK-2 fee in Junagadh₹10,000, same as everywhere
- What is localGujarat stamp paper
- Timeline in Junagadh3 to 6 months
Location pages on this subject tend to invent variation, and two inventions are worth naming. The first is the claim that the Registrar in Gujarat processes your strike off. It did until 30 April 2023. Since then the Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit does, under notification S.O. 1269(E) dated 17 March 2023 and the amendment rules that took effect on 1 May 2023. The second is a table of per-state processing timelines, which cannot be meaningful once every application goes into one central queue. In short, if a page promises you a faster closure because your company is registered in Junagadh, it is selling you something that no longer exists.
Here is the honest split, and it is the reason this page is shorter on local claims than most.
| Element of a closure | Central, identical in Junagadh | Local to Gujarat |
|---|---|---|
| Section 248 and Section 249 of the Companies Act, 2013 | Yes | No |
| The proviso to Rule 3, listing who cannot apply | Yes | No |
| The flat ₹10,000 STK-2 government fee | Yes | No |
| Who processes the application | Registrar, C-PACE | No |
| The 30-day objection window on Form STK-6 | Yes | No |
| Income tax and the final return | Yes | No |
| GST law and the GSTR-10 final return | Yes | Only the officer with jurisdiction |
| Stamp paper for the STK-3 bond and STK-4 affidavits | No | Yes |
| Notarisation of the bond and affidavits | No | Yes |
| The vernacular newspaper carrying the STK-6 notice | No | Yes |
| Professional Tax surrender | No | Where Gujarat levies it |
| Shops and Establishments licence surrender | No | Yes |
| The NCLT bench for Section 252 or Section 59 | No | Yes |
Where Gujarat does matter. The indemnity bond and the director affidavits are executed on non-judicial stamp paper at the denomination the Gujarat schedule prescribes, then notarised. State schedules are amended without much fanfare, so we confirm the current denomination in Gujarat before the documents are drawn rather than working from a published table that may be years out of date. Practically, this is the smallest line in the exercise: it is a few hundred rupees against a ₹10,000 filing fee, and getting it wrong costs a re-execution rather than a rejection.
Where Junagadh matters more than you would expect. The GST cancellation is decided by the officer with jurisdiction over your registered address, and that is the single step in a closure most likely to stall. Where the address is a co-working desk or a virtual office in Junagadh, expect the application to attract a query, so keep the agreement, the owner's no-objection and a utility bill to hand before you apply rather than after.
Which closure route does your company need?
The only question that matters on day one, and the four answers are not interchangeable. Read your balance sheet, not a price list.
Strike off, Section 248(2)
Nil assets, nil liabilities, solvent. An administrative removal with no tribunal and no liquidator. Form STK-2 to C-PACE, ₹10,000, three to six months. The right route for most small companies in Junagadh.
Voluntary liquidation, Section 59 IBC
Solvent, but there is still a balance sheet. Assets to realise or creditors to pay in full. A licensed liquidator, a public claim process and a dissolution order from the Tribunal bench for Gujarat. Nine to eighteen months.
Insolvency resolution, IBC
The company cannot pay its debts. Not a closure you choose, and not "NCLT winding up". A corporate insolvency resolution process under Section 7, 9 or 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016.
Dormant status, Section 455
You might use the company again. Not a closure at all. Form MSC-1 buys a light-compliance pause that keeps the name, the incorporation date and the option to restart on Form MSC-4.
Why "strike off versus winding up" is the wrong frame. Nearly every page on this subject still presents the choice as strike off against winding up by the Tribunal under Sections 271 to 274 for a company that cannot pay its debts. That ground no longer exists. Section 271(1)(a) was omitted by Section 255 read with the Eleventh Schedule of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, with effect from 15 December 2016, and debt-driven cases moved wholesale into the Code. What survives in Section 271 is a special resolution to wind up, conduct against the sovereignty and integrity of India, fraudulent conduct, five continuous years of non-filing, and just and equitable grounds. If someone in Junagadh is quoting you for a Section 271 winding up because your company owes money, they are quoting from a framework repealed a decade ago.
| If this describes your company | The route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Incorporated, never traded, no INC-20A filed | Strike off, Section 248(2) | Nothing to extinguish. Also the case the Registrar acts on first under Section 248(1), so act deliberately |
| Traded once, stopped two or more years ago, nil balance sheet | Strike off, Section 248(2) | The textbook application, provided every filing is brought current first |
| Still holds cash, a deposit or intellectual property | Voluntary liquidation, Section 59 IBC | Assets have to be realised and distributed. Strike off cannot be used to leave assets behind |
| Owes trade creditors who will be paid in full | Voluntary liquidation, Section 59 IBC | Section 248(2) requires liabilities to be extinguished before the application, not during it |
| Cannot pay what it owes | Insolvency resolution, IBC | Section 10 of the Code, before the bench with jurisdiction over the registered office in Junagadh |
| Has an unsatisfied charge on the register | File CHG-4 first, then strike off | A charge pending satisfaction is an express bar in the proviso to Rule 3 |
| Shifted its registered office out of Gujarat recently | Wait out the quarter | Section 249 bars an application for three months after a change of State |
| Might be used again for a future project | Dormant status, Section 455 | Form MSC-1 keeps the entity alive at a fraction of the cost of re-incorporating later |
What is strike off under Section 248?
The route four out of five companies on this page will use, and the vocabulary you will meet in every quote you are given in Junagadh.
- Section 248(1), the Registrar's own power
- Used where a company has not commenced business within one year of incorporation, or has not carried on business for two immediately preceding financial years without applying for dormant status. A notice issues in Form STK-1 and the directors have 30 days to answer. This is the version to avoid, because it runs on somebody else's timetable.
- Section 248(2), the voluntary application
- The company extinguishes all its liabilities, passes a special resolution or obtains the consent of 75% of members in terms of paid-up share capital, and applies on Form STK-2. This is the version you control.
- C-PACE
- The central processing office of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs at the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs, IMT Manesar. Its Registrar has held all-India functional jurisdiction over Section 248 since 1 May 2023, which is why the registered office in Junagadh no longer decides who reads your file.
- Form STK-3, the indemnity bond
- Executed on Gujarat stamp paper by every director. It is the promise that if a liability surfaces after dissolution, the directors will meet it personally. It is not a formality, and it is why an honest statement of accounts matters more than a fast one.
- Form STK-6 and Form STK-7
- STK-6 is the public notice published on the MCA website, in the Official Gazette and in an English newspaper and a vernacular newspaper circulating in Gujarat, inviting objections for 30 days. STK-7 is the notice of striking off and dissolution that follows if none is sustained.
In short, strike off trades speed and cost for personal exposure. It is fast because nobody independently verifies the company's affairs, and it is cheap for the same reason, so the law puts the risk back on the directors through the indemnity bond and through Section 248(7), which keeps their liability alive as if the company had never been dissolved. That is a good trade for a company that genuinely has nothing left, and a bad one for a company that has something it would rather not mention.
Signed by every director What actually gets signed in Junagadh
A strike off is a small stack of documents, each doing one job. Two of them are executed locally on Gujarat stamp paper; the rest are electronic.
- The board resolution authorises the application and fixes the date from which the Section 249 quarter is counted.
- The special resolution, or the consent of 75% of members in terms of paid-up share capital, is filed to the Registrar on Form MGT-14.
- Form STK-8 is the statement of accounts, certified by a practising professional, made up to a date not more than 30 days before the application.
- Form STK-4 is a personal affidavit from every director, on Gujarat stamp paper, confirming there are no liabilities and no pending proceedings.
- Form STK-3 is the indemnity bond, also on Gujarat stamp paper, under which the directors carry anything the affidavit missed.
Who can apply, and who cannot?
Two separate gates, both national. The first is about what kind of company you are, in the proviso to Rule 3. The second is about what you have done lately, in Section 249, and it is where most rejections come from.
You can apply when
- The company has extinguished every liability, which is the condition in Section 248(2) itself
- It has not carried on business for two immediately preceding financial years, or never commenced within a year of incorporation
- All annual filings are current up to the financial year in which business ceased
- Any charge on the register has been satisfied and Form CHG-4 filed
- A special resolution is passed, or 75% of members consent in terms of paid-up share capital
- It has done nothing barred by Section 249 in the previous three months
- The GST registration is cancelled and GSTR-10 filed, where one existed
You cannot apply at all if
- Listed companies, and companies delisted for non-compliance with listing requirements or other law
- Vanishing companies, as defined by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
- Companies under inspection or investigation, or with a reply pending to a notice under Section 206 or 207
- Companies with a prosecution pending in any court, or a compounding application pending
- Companies holding public deposits that are outstanding or in default of repayment
- Companies with a charge pending satisfaction on the register
- Section 8 companies, which have their own closure route
Section 249: the quarter of quiet before the application
An application under Section 248(2) is barred if, at any time in the previous three months, the company changed its name or shifted its registered office from one State to another; disposed of property or rights held for value in the normal course of trade; carried on any activity other than what is necessary to make the application, decide whether to make it, conclude its affairs or comply with a statutory requirement; applied to the Tribunal for a compromise or arrangement not finally concluded; or is already being wound up. Moving the registered office out of Gujarat shortly before closing is the version of this we see most often, and it costs a full quarter.
Documents required in Junagadh
The STK-2 pack, in the order it is assembled. Keep every file as a clear PDF, and make sure the company name and CIN read identically across all of them.
- Board resolution authorising the application for removal of the name
- Special resolution, or written consent of 75% of members in terms of paid-up share capital
- Form MGT-14 acknowledgment for the special resolution, filed within 30 days
- Form STK-3, indemnity bond from every director on Gujarat stamp paper
- Form STK-4, affidavit from every director on Gujarat stamp paper
- Form STK-8, statement of accounts certified by a practising professional, not older than 30 days
- Statement of pending litigation, or a nil declaration
- GST cancellation order and the GSTR-10 final return acknowledgment
- Final income tax return acknowledgment for the company
- Form CHG-4 acknowledgment, where any charge was registered
- Bank account closure letter from every bank in Junagadh holding a company account
- Regulator no-objection, where the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India or another sector regulator licensed the company
- Class 3 digital signature for every signing director, registered on the MCA portal
- Certificate of incorporation, PAN and TAN of the company
The statement of accounts has a 30-day clock, so it goes last
Form STK-8 must be made up to a date not more than 30 days before the date of the application. Prepare it too early and it expires while you are still chasing the GST cancellation order or a bank closure letter in Junagadh, and it has to be redone and re-certified. The sequence that works is: clear the filings, cancel the registrations, close the accounts, and only then have the statement of accounts drawn up and certified. Everything else in the pack can be prepared in parallel and will keep.
How does the strike off process work, step by step?
Ten steps. The first two decide whether the other eight are worth starting, which is why they are free and come before any engagement.
Confirm the route
We test the company against strike off, voluntary liquidation, insolvency resolution and dormancy. One short call and a look at the last balance sheet is usually enough to settle it.
Run the eligibility checks
The proviso to Rule 3 for what kind of company you are, and Section 249 for what the company has done in the last three months. We also pull the charge register, because an old loan nobody satisfied is the most common hidden blocker.
Clear the overdue MCA filings
Every outstanding AOC-4 and MGT-7A up to the financial year business ceased, plus DIR-3 KYC for each director. Nothing else can proceed until these are in.
Settle liabilities and satisfy charges
Creditors, statutory dues and employee dues paid, loans closed, and Form CHG-4 filed so the register shows no charge pending satisfaction.
Cancel GST and file the final returns
Pending GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B filed, cancellation applied for in Form REG-16 before the officer with jurisdiction over your Junagadh address, and GSTR-10 filed within three months of the cancellation order.
File the final income tax return
The company's return up to the date business ceased, with the tax position closed and the acknowledgment retained for the STK-2 pack.
Pass the resolutions
Board resolution first, then the special resolution or the consent of 75% of members in terms of paid-up share capital. Form MGT-14 is filed within 30 days of the special resolution.
Execute the pack on Gujarat stamp paper
The STK-3 indemnity bond and STK-4 affidavits from every director, on stamp paper at the Gujarat denomination and notarised locally, plus the STK-8 statement of accounts certified within the 30-day window.
File Form STK-2 with C-PACE
Filed on the MCA V3 portal with the flat ₹10,000 government fee. Processed by the Registrar, C-PACE under all-India jurisdiction, so the Junagadh registered office does not decide the queue.
Notice period, then dissolution
C-PACE publishes the public notice in Form STK-6, including in a vernacular newspaper circulating in Gujarat, and invites objections for 30 days. Where nothing is sustained, dissolution is notified in Form STK-7 in the Official Gazette.
| Stage | What happens | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Step 1: Route and eligibility | Balance-sheet test, Rule 3 exclusions, Section 249 bar and the charge register | 2 to 5 working days |
| Step 2: Backlog clearance | Overdue AOC-4 and MGT-7A filings, DIR-3 KYC, Form CHG-4 for any charge | 2 weeks to 2 months, by how far behind you are |
| Step 3: Registration closures | GST cancellation before the Junagadh jurisdictional officer, GSTR-10, final income tax return, bank accounts closed | 4 to 8 weeks, the GST cancellation order sets the pace |
| Step 4: Resolutions and MGT-14 | Board resolution, special resolution or 75% member consent, MGT-14 filed within 30 days | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Step 5: STK-2 pack and filing | STK-3, STK-4 on Gujarat stamp paper, STK-8 certified, then Form STK-2 filed with C-PACE | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Step 6: Public notice | C-PACE publishes Form STK-6 and invites objections | 30 days, fixed by rule |
| Step 7: Dissolution | Form STK-7 notice of striking off and dissolution in the Official Gazette | 30 to 60 days after the notice period |
Not sure your Junagadh company can actually be struck off?
Send us the CIN and the last balance sheet. We will run the Rule 3 exclusions, the Section 249 bar and the charge register, and tell you which route is open, before there is anything to pay.
The registrations you have to close first
A company is not one registration but several, and each keeps generating obligations until it is formally closed. This is the part that takes the longest and gets skipped the most.
| Registration | How it is closed | If you leave it open |
|---|---|---|
| GST | Form REG-16 before the officer with jurisdiction over the Junagadh address, then GSTR-10 within three months of the cancellation order | Returns keep falling due and late fees run whether or not there was turnover. See GST cancellation |
| Income tax | Final return up to the date business ceased, with advance tax and deducted-tax positions cleared | A demand raised later is recoverable from former directors under Section 248(7) |
| TAN and TDS | Final quarterly statements filed, then the TAN surrendered | Default notices continue to issue against a company that no longer trades |
| Charges on the register | Form CHG-4, filed after the lender confirms no dues | An express bar under the proviso to Rule 3. See charge satisfaction |
| Shops and Establishments licence | Surrender with the Gujarat labour department or the local body in Junagadh | Renewal obligations and inspections continue against the premises |
| Professional Tax | Surrender of the employer registration with the Gujarat authority | The state levy keeps accruing where it was registered |
| Provident fund and state insurance | Final contributions, then closure with EPFO and ESIC | Inspections and demands continue against the establishment code |
| Bank accounts | Closed with a written confirmation from each bank in Junagadh | Maintenance charges accrue and the STK-2 pack is incomplete |
Order matters more than speed here
GST cancellation cannot be applied for until every pending return is filed, and GSTR-10 cannot be filed until the cancellation order issues. That chain is the longest one in a closure, so it starts on day one and runs alongside the MCA backlog rather than after it. The bank accounts close last, because you will need one of them to pay the government fees and to receive any refund that surfaces while the returns are being cleaned up.
What happens after a company is struck off?
Dissolution ends the company. It does not end the directors' exposure, and it is not always the last word.
The company stops existing. On publication of the Form STK-7 notice, the company is dissolved. Its name leaves the register, its CIN becomes historical, any bank account still open in Junagadh is frozen, and it can no longer contract, sue or be sued in its own name. Assets that were never dealt with before dissolution do not simply pass to the shareholders; they become a problem that generally needs a restoration order to solve.
The directors do not stop being answerable. Section 248(6) requires the Registrar to satisfy itself that sufficient provision has been made for realising the company's dues and paying its liabilities within a reasonable time, and those obligations may be enforced against every director. Section 248(7) is blunter: the liability of every director, manager, officer and member continues and may be enforced as if the company had not been dissolved. The Form STK-3 indemnity bond is the practical instrument, and it is what a creditor or a tax officer produces when something undisclosed appears two years later.
Disqualification comes from the non-filing, not from the closure. A voluntary strike off does not disqualify anyone. What disqualifies is Section 164(2): a director of a company that has not filed financial statements or annual returns for three continuous financial years is barred for five years from appointment or reappointment in any company. That is precisely the position of a company left to drift rather than closed, which is the strongest practical argument for doing this deliberately.
Restoration, Section 252
A struck-off company can be restored by the Tribunal bench with jurisdiction over Gujarat. Three years where the Registrar acted on its own initiative, and up to twenty years on an application by the company, a member, a creditor or a workman. Every overdue filing has to be cleared as a condition of the order.
Keep the pack for years
Retain the STK-7 notice, the STK-3 bond, the STK-8 statement of accounts and every clearance. Because director liability survives dissolution, this file is the only evidence that the affairs really were concluded properly.
Your DIN stays yours
A Director Identification Number is not cancelled by a strike off. It stays active and DIR-3 KYC remains due annually for as long as you hold it, so keep filing it even after your last company is gone.
Starting again is clean
A voluntary strike off leaves nothing preventing you from incorporating again in Junagadh. Where a disqualification under Section 164(2) has already attached, that has to run its course first, which is another reason to close before the third year of non-filing.
Guides and resources
Longer reading on each route and each clearance, written by the team that files these applications with C-PACE every week.
Closing a company in Junagadh: frequently asked questions
Drawn from real search queries, the Companies Act, 2013, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 and the applications we file every week.
Close it properly, or it closes around you
An abandoned company keeps accruing an additional fee of ₹100 per day per form and disqualifies its directors after three years. A deliberate exit costs less and ends cleanly. Professional fee from ₹7,999; government fees are billed separately at actuals.
Nebin Binoy 
