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1975 Supreme(Cal) 336

High Court Of Calcutta
Sankar Prasad Mitra, S. K. Datta
RAGHUNATH AND SON PRIVATE LTD. - Appellant
Versus
PANDAM TEA COMPANY LTD. - Respondent
Appeal From Original Order 1  Of  1974
Decided On : 11/25/1975

Advocates Appeared:
B.K.CHATTERJI, Jayanta Mitra

The acknowledgment of liabilities in the balance-sheet and directors' report can raise a bona fide dispute on the question of limitation for creditor's claims.

Headnote:

Limitation - Creditor's Claim - Balance-sheet acknowledgment

Fact of the Case:

The appellant claimed to be a creditor of the respondent based on a loan advanced in 1958, acknowledged in balance-sheets as of 1967 and 1968. The winding-up petition was presented in 1972.

Finding of the Court:

The court found that there was a bona fide dispute regarding the question of limitation, and as such, the appellant's claim may have been barred by limitation at the date of the winding-up petition. The appeal was dismissed with no order as to costs.

Issues: Bona fide dispute on the question of limitation

Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was influenced by the acknowledgment of the loan in the balance-sheet and the directors' report, which raised a genuine dispute on the question of limitation for the creditor's claim.

Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed, with the judgment not preventing the appellant from pursuing other remedies in an appropriate forum.

SANKAR PRASAD MITRA, C. J.

( 1 ) THIS is an appeal from a judgment of Mr. Justice Sabyasachi Mukherjee delivered on June 27, 1973. The appellant claims to be a creditor of the respondent. The loan was advanced subject to certain debentures in 1958. It is stated that the loan was acknowledged in balance-sheets as it stood on the 31st December, 1967, which was signed by the directors on the 3rd June, 1968. But difficulty has been created by the alleged acknowledgment in the balance-sheet as at the 31st December, 1968, signed by the directors on the 26th July, 1970.

( 2 ) AT page 6 in the list of liabilities the following entry appears : " Secured Loans: as per Schedule ' A' Rs. 9,34,545. "

( 3 ) SCHEDULE ' A' is at page 12. In Schedule ' A' we find the following entry : " Raghunath and Son Private Ltd. (Partly secured by deposit of the company's own debentures as per contra) (unconfirmed): rs. 1,49,110"

( 4 ) THEN at page 2 of the report of the board of directors appears the following paragraph:" Your directors are of the opinion that the liabilities shown in Schedules ' A' and ' B ' of the balance-sheet excepting those of United Bank of India, Messrs. Goenka and Co. Private Ltd. and Carrit Moran and Co. P. Ltd. are barred by limitation, hence these liabilities are not confirmed by your directors. "

( 5 ) AS we have said, the report for the balance-sheet as at 31st December, 1968, was signed on the 26th July, 1970. The application for winding up was presented on the 9th March, 1972.

( 6 ) THE position, therefore, is that unless the statements made in. the balance-sheet as at 31st December, 1968, and the directors' report referred to above are treated as admissions of liability, on the date of presentation of the winding-up petition, the appellant's claim may have been barred by limitation.

( 7 ) THE learned trial judge has taken the view that there is a bona fide dispute as to the question of limitation. As we share this view for the reasons given in the judgment of the trial court, this appeal is dismissed.

( 8 ) THERE will be no order as to costs.

( 9 ) WE make it clear, however, that this judgment would not prevent the appellant from pursuing other remedies in an appropriate forum, if so advised.

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