JUDGMENT :

Vineet Kothari, J.

1. A short, but interesting question of law arises in the present Appeals filed against the order of the learned Single Judge of this Court dated 03.01.2018, namely "Whether in Admiralty suits filed in the original jurisdiction of this Court, the leave of the High Court/Tribunal under Section 446 of the Companies Act, 1956 (now Section 279 of new Companies Act, 2013) to file or proceed with such a suit is required to be obtained by the plaintiffs or not, after the Winding Up Order is passed by the Court and an Official Liquidator or Provisional Liquidator is appointed by that Court/Tribunal?".

2. The facts leading to the filing of the present Appeals arose in the following context. A ship or vessel, MT Pratibha Cauvery, when anchored at the shore near Chennai was caught in the eye of cyclonic storm named 'Neelam' around 27.12.2012. The said vessel drifted towards the shore and in the said natural calamity, some of the crew members jumped into the sea and six of them lost their lives and one of the crew members was rescued by the Indian Coast Guard on 01.11.2012, who filed a civil suit, i.e. C.S. No. 89 of 2013 invoking the original Admiralty Jurisdiction