High Court Of Calcutta
Sankar Prasad Mitra, S. K. Datta
PANDAM TEA CO.LTD - Appellant
Versus
DARJEELING COMMERCIAL CO.LTD - Respondent
Appeal 160 Of 1971
Decided On : 11/25/1975
COMPANIES ACT - WINDING UP - PETITION - PARTICULARS OF INDEBTEDNESS - ABSENCE OF - EFFECT - ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF DEBT IN BALANCE-SHEET - LIMITATION - INJUNCTION RESTRAINING CREDITOR FROM PROCEEDING IN ANY ACTION ON BASIS OF DEMANDS - EFFECT - SECURED CREDITOR - PETITION FOR WINDING UP - MAINTAINABILITY.
Fact of the Case:
The respondent filed a petition for winding up of the appellant company, alleging that the appellant owed it a sum of Rs. 3,00,000 on a second charge of the company's assets. The appellant disputed the claim, alleging that the loans were fictitious and barred by limitation. The appellant also contended that the petition was not maintainable as the respondent was a secured creditor and had not given up its security.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the respondent had a prima facie case and that the appellant's contentions were not sustainable. The court found that the appellant had acknowledged the debt in its balance-sheets, that the claim was not barred by limitation, and that the injunction restraining the respondent from proceeding in any action on the basis of the demands did not prevent the respondent from proving the appellant's inability to pay debt by evidence aliunde. The court also held that a secured creditor is entitled to file a petition for winding up under Section 439 (1) (b) of the Companies Act.
Issues: 1. Whether the petition for winding up was lacking in material particulars and, therefore, invalid. 2. Whether the loans were fictitious and barred by limitation. 3. Whether the injunction restraining the respondent from proceeding in any action on the basis of the demands prevented the respondent from proving the appellant's inability to pay debt by evidence aliunde. 4. Whether a secured creditor is entitled to file a petition for winding up under Section 439 (1) (b) of the Companies Act.
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The absence of material particulars in the petition for winding up does not invalidate the petition if the company has acknowledged the debt in its balance-sheets. 2. Acknowledgment of indebtedness in balance-sheets is sufficient acknowledgment under the Limitation Act. 3. An injunction restraining a creditor from proceeding in any action on the basis of demands does not prevent the creditor from proving the debtor's inability to pay debt by evidence aliunde. 4. A secured creditor is entitled to file a petition for winding up under Section 439 (1) (b) of the Companies Act.
Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed with costs.
( 1 ) THIS is an appeal against an order of Ghose J. dated May 3 and May 13, 1971, rejecting the appellant-company's petition for permanent stay of winding-up proceedings against it.
( 2 ) THE respondent, on service of a notice under Section 434 of the Companies Act, filed a petition stating that a sum of Rs. 3,00,000 was lent and advanced by it to the appellant on a second charge of the assets of the company and the amount was a running loan from year to year shown in the balance-sheets of the company. The loan was acknowledged in the last balance-sheet of the company as on December 31, 1967, and was also otherwise acknowledged in writing by the appellant from time to time. No part of the loan was paid in spite of the notice under Section 434 of the Act and, accordingly, the company should be wound up. This petition, being Company Petition No. 225 of 1970, was admitted by K. L. Roy J. on January 19, 1971, and necessary directions for advertisements were issued.
( 3 ) THE appellant took out judge's summons for permanent stay of the proceedings disputing the claim. It was stated that the fictitious loans were shown as advanced by the respondent to the appellant when both the appellant and the respondent-companies were under common management and, further, a false mortgage on assets of the appellant was created on the basis of the aforesaid loans. The appellant instituted Suit No. 50 of 1970 at Darjeeling for a declaration that the respondent had no legal right to enforce the mortgage. In that suit an injunction was issued on November 26, 1970, restraining the respondent from "proceeding in any action on basis of demands" in the notice under Section 434 of the Act. In any event the claim was barred by limitation as the loan was advanced even according to the respondent some time in 1951. Ghose J. held that the respondent had a prima facie case. An admission of indebtedness in balance-sheets was sufficient acknowledgment under the Limitation Act. Further, the injunction of the Darjeeling court did not prevent the respondent from proving the appellant's inability to pay debt by evidence aliunde apart from the presumption under Section 434. The petition for stay, as already stated, was accordingly dismissed. "
( 4 ) MR. Bhabra and later on Mr. Chatterjee contended, firstly, that the application for winding up was lacking in material particulars and the obligation to furnish the particulars is mandatory as provided in the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959, Rule 95 and Forms 45 and 46. Further, there was an inconsistent case about the claim. The loan was once stated to be a sum of Rs. 3,00,000, while at another place it was stated to be a running loan. There can be no dispute and it is an essential requirement of law that the requisite particulars of the indebtedness of the company on which the insolvency proceeding is initiated against such company should find place in the notice of demand under Section 434 as also in the petition for winding up. Such particulars are necessary to enable the company to meet the claim of the petitioning-creditor. Absence of material and requisite particulars thereof will invalidate the petition for winding up of the company as in such proceedings there should be no bona fide dispute about the indebtedness of such company to the petitioning-creditor. In the context of the circumstances of this case, however, we do not think that absence of the particulars as alleged, of accurate statement about the claim, should affect the maintainability of the petition filed by the respondent. There is clear and unequivocal admission of debts in the last balance-sheet of the appellant for the year 1967. There is, accordingly, no question of any prejudice to the appellant-company by the alleged absence of the particulars as the loan was admitted and acknowledged in the balance-sheets from year to year as alleged and these allegations have not been disputed.
( 5 ) THE appellant has further urged t
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