Company Due Diligence Checklist: MCA, GST and Litigation
A practical checklist for checking a company in India before you sign a deal: what MCA tells you, what GST tells you, what litigation records tell you, and where to check each one.
Explainer · Due Diligence
Before you invest in a company, lend to it, sign it on as a vendor, or hire its promoters, you want to know one thing: is this company what it says it is, and is it clean. That single question actually needs three separate checks in India, because no single government record covers all of it. This guide sets out a practical checklist across MCA, GST, and litigation records, what each one tells you, what it does not, and where to run the check.
- Three separate checks: MCA (legal existence and compliance), GST (tax health), litigation (disputes and risk).
- Start with MCA to confirm the exact entity, then verify GST status, then search litigation by company name and director names separately.
- Search name variants in litigation checks; an exact-match-only search can miss real cases.
- Ongoing relationships need repeat checks, not a one-time report.
01Why one check is not enough
A company due diligence check in India means answering three different questions, and each one lives in a different system.
MCA tells you if the company is legally what it claims to be
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs record tells you whether a company actually exists, whether it is active, struck off, or under liquidation, who its directors are, and whether it has filed the annual returns it is legally required to file. This is the starting point, because if the company is not in good standing here, nothing else matters.
GST tells you if the company is tax compliant in practice, not just on paper
A company can look fine on its balance sheet and still be a tax risk. The GST registration status tells you if the GSTIN is active, whether the business name on the GST record matches what you were told, and whether the company has actually been filing its returns. A GSTIN can show as active while the taxpayer has quietly stopped filing, which is a real warning sign that a one-line "GST registered" claim will not catch.
Litigation tells you about risk that will not show up in any filing
Neither the MCA record nor the GST record tells you if the company, or its directors personally, are defendants in a civil suit, facing a cheque bounce case, involved in arbitration, or before the NCLT. A company can be fully compliant on paper and still be carrying serious litigation risk that only shows up when you search court records directly.
The three checks answer different questions
MCA answers "does this company exist and is it compliant." GST answers "is this company tax healthy right now." Litigation answers "is this company or its directors exposed to disputes." A due diligence report that skips any one of the three is incomplete, not just thin.
02What a complete due diligence checklist covers
Before the line items, it helps to fix the shape of the check. A complete company due diligence checklist covers four things.
- Identity: is this the exact legal entity you think it is, with a matching CIN, PAN, and GSTIN, not a similarly named group company.
- Compliance history: has the company kept up with its statutory filings, or is there a pattern of defaults and lapses.
- Financial and tax health signals: what the public record shows about charges, secured lenders, and GST filing regularity.
- Litigation exposure: disputes involving the company or its directors that could affect the deal, the relationship, or the individuals you are dealing with.
A due diligence check is not one search. It is three separate systems answering three separate questions, and a report is only as complete as its weakest leg.
03MCA due diligence checklist
Start here, because it establishes the entity you are actually checking. Since the migration to the MCA21 V3 portal, most of this basic master data is viewable without logging in, using the company name or CIN.
| Check | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Company status | Active, struck off, under liquidation, or dormant | A struck off or liquidating company should stop most deals immediately |
| CIN and incorporation date | Matches what the company told you, no mismatch with group entities | Confirms you are checking the right legal entity, not a similarly named one |
| Registered office | Matches the address on other documents, GST, and contracts | A mismatch is a common early sign of a shell or dormant entity |
| Directors and DIN status | Whether any director is disqualified or holds a deactivated DIN | A disqualified director cannot legally continue as a director, which affects governance |
| Index of charges | Outstanding charges against company assets, and with whom | Tells you if assets are already pledged to a lender before you rely on them |
| Annual filings (AOC-4, MGT-7) | Filed on time in recent years, not lapsed | Repeated non-filing is one of the clearest compliance red flags available |
MCA search and litigation search answer different questions and use different records, so treat them as separate steps rather than assuming one covers the other. See the difference between MCA search and litigation search for a full breakdown.
04GST due diligence checklist
Once the entity is confirmed on MCA, check its tax health on the GST portal using the GSTIN or PAN.
| Check | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| GSTIN status | Active, not cancelled or suspended | A cancelled or suspended GSTIN means the entity cannot legally issue valid tax invoices |
| Legal name and trade name match | Matches the name on MCA records and on the contract | A mismatch can point to an unregistered trade name or a different entity altogether |
| Registration date and constitution | Consistent with the company’s stated incorporation and structure | A very recent registration for an allegedly old, established business is worth asking about |
| Return filing history (GSTR-1, GSTR-3B) | Filed regularly, no long gaps | An active GSTIN with stopped filings is a live tax risk, not a settled compliance question |
| Principal place of business | Matches the MCA registered office or a disclosed branch | Confirms the business actually operates where it claims to |
GST filing gaps often show up first as tax demand notices and disputes rather than as an outright cancelled registration, so a company can pass a status check today and still be carrying a GST litigation exposure. If tax disputes are part of what you need to track, not just verify once, see our guide to tax litigation management software in India.
05Litigation due diligence checklist
This is the leg most due diligence checks under-do, because it is the hardest to search and the easiest to assume "clean" without actually looking. At minimum, check for the following, against both the company name and each director’s name.
- Civil suits where the company or its directors are a party, in any court, not just the local one.
- Criminal cases, including cheque bounce cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, which are common and easy to miss.
- Arbitration and NCLT matters, including insolvency proceedings, which can move a company’s assets out of reach quickly.
- Past judgments against the company, which show a track record even after a dispute is closed.
- Name variants: abbreviations, spelling differences, and old trade names, since a strict exact-name search can miss real cases filed under a slightly different name.
This leg deserves its own detailed, step by step checklist rather than a summary here. See the full litigation due diligence checklist for India for exactly how to run it.
06How to run the check, step by step
Run the three checks in this order, because each one feeds the next.
Step 1: Confirm the entity on MCA. Get the exact legal name, CIN, registered office, and current director list. Everything after this step uses these details.
Step 2: Check GST using the confirmed GSTIN. Verify status and filing history. If the GSTIN or business name does not match what MCA shows, stop and ask why before going further.
Step 3: Search litigation records using the company name, any known past names, and each director’s full name separately. Do not search only the parent company if group entities or subsidiaries are also part of the deal.
Step 4: Compile the findings into a single report that flags anything unusual, rather than a plain list of what was found clean. A due diligence report is most useful when it highlights exceptions, not when it repeats "nothing found" three times.
07Common mistakes that make a check incomplete
- Relying only on documents the company hands over. Self-certified compliance certificates are a starting point, not a substitute for an independent MCA and GST check.
- Checking the company but not the directors. A clean corporate record can sit alongside a personal litigation history that still affects the deal, especially in smaller companies where the director is effectively the business.
- Searching only the exact legal name. Courts and registries are not always consistent with spelling, abbreviations, or old names, so a rigid exact-match search will miss real matters.
- Ignoring group and related companies. Litigation or GST issues at a sister concern often signal the same risk at the entity you are actually checking.
- Treating due diligence as a one-time event. For an ongoing relationship, such as a lender or a long-term vendor, a check done once at onboarding goes stale. Compliance status and litigation exposure both change.
08Where Claw fits
Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.
Claw is not an MCA or GST search tool, and this checklist does not depend on it for those two legs. Where Claw fits is the litigation leg above, which is usually the hardest one to do properly by hand. Its case search covers 25 High Courts (1980 to 2026) and the Supreme Court (1950 to 2026), across 30 crore judgements, with name-tolerant search that is built to catch spelling and phonetic variations rather than requiring an exact match. For an ongoing relationship rather than a one-time check, Claw’s case tracking can also follow a company or director across 8,200+ courts and tribunals and send alerts when something new is filed, which turns a one-time litigation check into continuous monitoring. For the full method, see the litigation due diligence checklist.
09Sources and further reading
Official sources for the records discussed here:
- Ministry of Corporate Affairs (company and LLP master data): mca.gov.in
- GST portal (taxpayer search and verification): gst.gov.in
- eCourts (national court records): ecourts.gov.in
- Claw: clawlaw.in
This checklist is a practical guide, not legal advice. Confirm current portal procedures directly with MCA, GST, and the relevant courts, since government portals and forms change over time.
10Frequently asked questions
What should a company due diligence checklist in India cover?
A complete checklist covers three separate checks: MCA records for legal existence, director details, and filing compliance; GST records for registration status and return filing history; and litigation records for disputes involving the company and its directors. Each answers a different question, so skipping one leaves the check incomplete.
What does an MCA check tell you that a GST check does not?
MCA tells you whether the company legally exists, whether it is active or struck off, who its directors are, and whether statutory filings like AOC-4 and MGT-7 are up to date. GST tells you about current tax registration status and filing regularity. They are different systems answering different questions, so both are needed. See the difference between MCA search and litigation search for more.
Why is litigation due diligence often incomplete?
Litigation records are harder to search than MCA or GST records because courts are not always consistent in how a company or director name is recorded, so an exact-name search can miss real cases. A complete litigation check also needs to cover each director personally, not just the company, and any group entities involved in the deal.
Can a company be GST compliant on paper but still be a risk?
Yes. A GSTIN can show as active even when the taxpayer has stopped filing returns regularly, which is a real warning sign a simple status check will miss. Checking the actual return filing history, not just the registration status, gives a truer picture of tax health.
Do I need to check directors separately from the company?
Yes. A company can have a clean corporate record while its directors carry personal litigation exposure, such as cheque bounce cases or civil suits, that can still affect the deal. This matters most for smaller companies where the director is effectively the business.
How often should due diligence checks be repeated?
A one-time check is enough for a single transaction, but an ongoing relationship such as a lender, investor, or long-term vendor needs the check repeated periodically, since compliance status and litigation exposure both change over time. Continuous monitoring, rather than a one-off report, catches new risk as it appears.