Australia's corporate watchdog appears to have widened a legal case against an Indian-owned coal mine described as being "in its death throes" amid losses totalling more than $1 billion.

It is understood the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is pursuing action against Griffin Coal over an alleged failure by the embattled miner to have a resident local director.

Filings lodged with the regulator show Griffin's sole director is Raj Kumar Roy, whose address is listed as Ghaziabad, a city in the province of Uttar Pradesh in India.

The action comes just days after it emerged ASIC had charged Griffin over a failure to lodge audited financial accounts for the 2019 and 2020 financial years as required by the Corporations Act.

ASIC's latest intervention also adds to the mounting pressure on Griffin, which is one of Western Australia's only two coal mines and supplies one of the state's biggest power stations.

While ASIC declined to comment on the matter, a corporate litigation specialist said the watchdog took a dim view of corporate offending where it could be deemed a "pattern of behaviour".

ASIC views breaches 'seriously'

Cinzia Donald, a partner at Perth-based law firm Lavan, said the resident director provisions were in place to ensure companies were accountable for their actions.

Ms Donald said the provisions were designed so "a creditor or an investor can bring proceedings and hold (directors) to account where they've breached certain obligations in Australia".

She also said ASIC had used failures similar to those alleged against Griffin to take "incredibly dramatic" action.

"ASIC has in the past applied to wind up companies or at least applied for a provisional liquidator to be put in control of a company where they've investigated and found multiple contraventions of the Act," Ms Donald said.

"There are cases that have relied on this very provision, where they've failed to have a (director) residing in Australia.

Ms Donald said the failure by a company to have a resident director was not overly serious in itself, attracting a maximum penalty of about $4000.

However, she said such an oversight – especially when combined with other breaches of the law – could often be a sign of bigger problems inside a company.

These included a "casual" attitude towards the conduct of its business.

Raises questions of solvency

More pointedly, she said they could sometimes raise questions about the solvency of a firm and whether it needed to be wound up to protect creditors and suppliers.

"The courts view that kind of conduct with great concern," she said.

"It may indicate, depending on the facts of each case, that the company is being carried on in a casual manner without regard to the legal requirements of running a company.

"And then that puts at risk key stakeholders, be it investors in the company, or contractors or parties entering into agreements with that company."

The development is the latest twist in the Griffin saga.

Last month, Griffin lost a major court battle with its former mine manager, Carna Group, and was ordered to pay more than $5 million in damages.

In a further blow, the judge presiding over the case this week ordered Griffin to pay almost $1.5 million extra in interest and costs on top of the damages claim.

At the same time, Griffin is facing a damaging legal row with its biggest customer, the Japanese-owned Bluewaters power station, over claims the miner has failed to adequately maintain the generator's coal stockpile.

Amid the courtroom drama, Griffin has also been hit by a series of rolling stoppages from workers claiming they are fed up with the company's performance.

Meanwhile, it is believed the WA government's mine safety regulator – the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety – has stepped up its oversight at Griffin following a number of incidents in recent times.

Griffin was contacted for comment.

State Liberal MP Steve Thomas said the mounting problems suggested Griffin was "in its death throes" and it was untenable for the company to sustain its losses, which had amounted to more than $1 billion in a decade.