JUDGMENT - S.P. BHARUCHA, J.:---Devidayal Tube Industries Ltd., was a company in liquidation. M/s. Harilal Thakkar Co., Attorneys of this Court, were appointed by the Official Liquidator as his attorneys to assist him in the performance of his duties under the provisions of section 459 of the Companies Act, 1956. As such attorneys the said attorneys attended on behalf of the Official Liquidator to Company Application No. 30 of 1984, N.G.K. electrical Industries v. Official Liquidator. The said Company Application was heard on 10, 13, 19th, 20th and 27th September, 1984 and we are told that the hearing took, in the aggregate, about 20 hours.

2. On 8th July, 1986 the said attorneys lodged their bill of costs with the Taxing Master of this Court for taxation. A warrant was issued by the Taxing Master thereupon and served upon the Official Liquidator. The matter was heard before the Taxing Master and, on 12th November, 1986, the Taxing Master gave to the said attorneys liberty to approach the Court in regard to the exercise of discretion in regard to the taxation of bills under the High Court (Original side) Rules, 1957. The said attorneys moved the Court first by way of a precipe and thereafter took out the present Chamber Summons. Thereby the said attorneys prayed for a declaration that Rule 600 of the Original Side Rules did not apply to Company Applications. The order of the Taxing Master that Rule 600 did apply to Company Applications should, it was prayed, be set aside. In the event that the Court held that Rule 600 did apply to Company Applications, the Court should order that it should not be applied to the said Company Application and a sum exceeding Rs. 1,000/- should be awarded against the instruction item in the bill of costs.

3. The principal question that Counsel urged before the learned Single Judge was as to the application of Rule 600. In the course of arguments, the question as to how the Taxing Master could have dealt with the bill of costs pertaining to the said Company application occurred to the learned Judge. The learned Judge was shown an order passed by Chandurkar, Acting C.J., on 23rd June, 1983 which read thus :

"UPON READING section 459 of the Companies Act, 1956, read with Rule 307 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1956, read with Rule 307 of the companies (Court) Rules, 1959, and Rule 338(2) of the said rules AND letter No. OL/G-203/Estt/5310 dated the 12th May, 1983 of the Official Liquidator, High Court, Bombay, I DO ORDER that the Taxing Master, High Court, Bombay, do accept for taxation the Bills of costs pertaining to the period after 31st December, 1976 lodged by the Advocates engaged by the Official Liquidator in performance of his duties unless otherwise ordered."

4. The learned Judge held that there was no provision either under the Company Law or under the Original side Rules whereby the Acting Chief Justice could have passed the order directing the Taxing Master to accept for taxation bills of costs pertaining to the period after 31st December, 1976 lodged by Advocates engaged by the Official Liquidator in the performance of his duties. His was not a judicial order nor could it be an administrative order which could have been passed under the provisions of law or the applicable rules. The learned Judge was apprised that it was a matter of practice that the Taxing Master had been acting under Rule 600 even in the past in respect of claims for costs regarding the instruction item pertaining to Company matters but the learned Judge was of the view that practice was not based on law or any rule having the force of law. Under the Companies (Court) Rules, the learned Judge noted, it was the Registrar who was the taxing officer of the Court for the purposes of the Companies (Court) Rules and the Registrar in the High Court meant the Registrar of the High Court and included the Prothonotary, Master and Assistant Master and such other officer as might be authorised by the chief Justice to perform all o

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