‘The words “oppression” and “mismanagement” are not defined in the Act. The meaning of these words for the purpose of Company Law should be used in a broad generic sense and not in any strict literal sense.
Oppression is a situation which prejudices someone to be oppressed due to that situation in dealing with any one under certain circumstances. It cannot be said that any situation which purport someone to be oppressed is oppression. The whole phenomenon depends upon the circumstances of the situation.
Mismanagement is a concept which shows some unfair abuse of power by the persons in charge of management of the company.
The meaning of the term “oppression” as explained by Lord Cooper in the Scottish case of Elder v. Elder & Western Ltd., (1952) Scottish Cases 49, which has been cited with approval by Wanchoo, J (afterwards C.J.)
of the Supreme Court in Shanti Prasad v. Kalinga Tubes, (1965) 1 Comp. L.J. 193 at 204 is as under :
“The essence of the matter seems to be that the conduct complained of should at the lowest, involve a visible departure from the standards of fair dealing, on which every shareholder who entrusts his money to the company is entitled to rely.”   _{Your Comment}