The interesting question of law debated before me in this second appeal is whether when a company in winding up attaches certain property in execution of a decree in its favour as that of its judgment-debtor, any claim petition by a third party is to be regarded as "other legal proceeding" within the meaning of section 171 of the Indian Companies Act which shall not be proceeded with or commenced against the company except by leave of the Court.

The appellant before me is the plaintiff in the original suit who sued to set aside an order on a claim petition filed by the first defendant on the basis of an assignment in his favour by the second defendant regarding the rents of certain properties which had been attached by the plaintiff. The claim succeeded in the execution Court, and the case of the plaintiff is that the assignment was a sham transaction unsupported by consideration which was entered into by the second defendant with a view to defeating the claim of the plaintiff in execution of its decree against the second defendant in O.S. No. 195 of 1936 on the file of the District Munsif’s Court at Palghat. Both the Courts below have found against the case of the plaintiff