IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH
C.V. RAMULU, J.
NILE Ltd. - Petitioner
Versus
Renewable Energy Systems Ltd. & Ors. - Respondents
C.R.P. No. 2445 of 2005
Decided on : 18-4-2006
Civil Procedure Code - Section 151 - Rule 38 - Companies Act, 1956 - Section 25 - Constitution of India – Article 227 – Consideration – Company – Evidence - After amendment of Section 22 of SICA execution proceedings have been taken out of purview of that Section - Therefore, a petition of this nature is maintainable and there is no necessity of obtaining prior approval from BIFR for purpose of execution of decree obtained by petitioner-decree holder – Held, To a specific question put to learned counsel for respondent-judgment debtor as to whether this amount lying with garnishee has been shown towards credit of company, there was no specific answer – Now amount has already been deposited and it is not case of judgment debtor that proceedings before Calcutta High Court anyway come in way of petitioner in claiming garnishee amount court opinion that any proceedings suit or execution, must relate to any amount advanced to judgment-debtor company and then only the protection under Section 22(1) of SICA can be claimed, but not in a suit where lease amount was claimed and the leased equipment was with garnishee in de facto and that judgment-debtor in de jure - Garnishee has no objection for depositing amounts and he has deposited the amount since nothing came in his way in doing so - It is only the judgment-debtor, who is trying to create some obstacle which is nothing but unfair on his part - Therefore, once suit or execution can go on against a guarantor there is no prohibition under the SICA to take out proceedings against a garnishee also - May be, in a way, it is property of judgment-debtor - But having utilized leased equipment any application under Section 22 would result in unfair dealing with decree-holder. Such is not object of Act – Therefore court of considered opinion that Court below has not properly appreciated facts and circumstances of case in relation to Section 22(1) of SICA - Petition is allowed
ORDER :
1. This Civil Revision Petition is filed under Art. 227 of the Constitution of India being aggrieved by an Order dated 24-8-2004 made in E.A. No. 50 of 2001 in E.P. No. 32 of 1999 on the file of the learned Principal District Judge, Ranga Reddy District.
2. The petitioner is the decree-holder and the 1st respondent is the judgment-debtor. The petitioner filed a suit - O.S. No. 48 of 1998 on the file of the learned Principal District Judge, Ranga Reddy district - for recovery of certain amounts and obtained a decree. Thereafter, the decree-holder filed E.P. No. 32 of 1999 for execution of the decree. In the said E.P., attachment of an amount of Rs. 2,15,40,399/- of the judgment-debtor (Renewable Energry Systems Limited, Hyderabad) lying with the garnishee i.e. Accounts Officer/Director, Department of Telecommunications (DOT), Telecom Stores, 16 Greems Road, Chennai. After hearing the parties, the Executing Court prohibited the garnishee from making payment of amounts to the judgment-debtor and the said Orders were served on the garnishee on 21-10-1999. Thereafter, the decree-holder filed an application seeking a direction to the garnishee to deposit the attached amount. After receiving the notice, the garnishee filed a memo stating that they would deposit a sum of Rs. 75,00,000/-. In view of the said Memo, the Executing Court permitted the garnishee to deposit the said sum of Rs. 75,00,000/- to the credit of E.P., on 25-1-2000. However, the authorities of DOT did not deposit the amount on the ground that there are some directions from the High Court of Calcutta on deposit of the amounts till the finalization of the proceedings before it. Further, on 25-8-2000, the respondent-garnishee received directions from the High Court of Calcutta in C.C. No. 322 of 1999 filed by Magna Leasing Limited, Kolkatta that the DOT shall not make any payment to the judgment-debtor or anybody on their behalf without leave of the Court. Subsequently, the said Orders were modified by an Order dated 25-4-2001 directing DOT to keep a sum of Rs. 47,23,786/- in Term Deposit in any Nationalized Bank, subject to further orders. That amount was deposited in Term Deposit for one year with effect from 10-11-2003 and the said Order was modified on 12-12-2001. By an Order dated 7-9-2001 passed in Case No. 113 of 2001, the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), directed that all the secured creditors, who filed suits against the company, were allowed under Section 22(1) of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (for short ‘SICA’) to continue with the legal proceedings, subject to the condition that a decree, if any, passed would not be executed without the approval of the Bench. Therefore, the amounts as directed by the Court could not be deposited. As such, the present petition under Order XXI Rule 38 read with Section 151 of the Civil Procedure Code was filed by the decree-holder to issue warrant of arrest for arresting the Accounts Officer, DOT, Telecom Store, 16 Greems Road, Chennai, Tamilnadu State. The question that arose for consideration of the Court below was whether, in view of Section 22(1) of SICA, when the matter is referred to BIFR and the same is pending, without the prior approval of the Board, the execution cannot be taken up? The Court below, after considering the rival contentions, dismissed the petition holding that since there is no dispute that the matter was referred to BIFR in Case No. 113 of 2001, unless and until prior approval of the Board is obtained, further proceedings cannot be taken up under Section 22(1) of SICA and the counsel for the decree-holder has not shown any authority contrary to the provisions of Section 22(1), which specifically prohibits the continuance of any proceedings for winding up, execution, distress or the like against any of the properties of a company, which has been declared as a sick unit. Aggrieved by the same, the present Civil Revision Petition is filed. Le
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