J.S.Khehar, J.

1. The instant is a winding up petition filed by Canara Bank (along,with others) under Sections 433 and 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 (the Act). It is the case of the petitioners that the debts on the date of filing of the winding up petition were approximately Rs. 8 crores. The learned counsel for the petitioners has been at great pains to establish that the amount advanced by the Canara Bank and others to the respondent-company has been acknowledged by the respondent-company. It is, however, not considered appropriate or necessary to refer to any of the documents relied upon, in this behalf in view of the fact that at the very outset, Mr. R.C. Setia, the learned counsel for the respondent-company, acknowledged that now the liability of the respondent-company was approximately Rs. 8 crores as suggested by the learned counsel for the petitioners.

2. To recover the aforesaid amount, the petitioners had issued a statutory notice dated 12-2-1997, in response to which the respondent-company paid a sum of Rs. 30 lakhs on 18-2-1997, which was admittedly adjusted towards interest payable by the respondent-company to the petitioners. Since the petitioners felt that