Mandatory service of winding-up notice on the company cannot be replaced by newspaper or Gazette publication alone.

In a winding-up petition, the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 require separate compliance with notice to the company and advertisement to others. Rule 96 governs admission and publication, but does not dispense with the mandatory service requirements in Rules 27, 28 and 29. The scheme treats advertisement in newspapers and the Official Gazette as distinct from service of notice on the company, and publication alone is not deemed service. The Court held that failure to serve the company was fatal, so the ex parte winding-up order was set aside.

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Issues: Whether, in a winding-up petition, service of an individual notice on the company was mandatory under the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959, and whether advertisement in newspapers and the Official Gazette could be treated as sufficient or deemed service.

Analysis: Rule 96 governs admission of a winding-up petition and advertisement, but it does not dispense with notice to the company. Rule 27 prescribes the form and timing of notice of petition, and Rule 28 expressly requires service of every petition presented against a company on the company, with the Registrar to send the notice and copy of the petition after admission by registered post. Rule 29 makes the petitioner responsible for service, and Rule 31 provides the consequence of default in service or advertisement. Reading these provisions together, the rules draw a clear distinction between advertisement to the public and service of notice on the company. The scheme does not recognise deemed service by publication alone.

Conclusion: Service of notice on the company was mandatory, and publication in newspapers and the Official Gazette did not amount to sufficient service. The company's appeal succeeded and the ex parte winding-up order was set aside.

Ratio Decidendi: In a winding-up petition, the procedural rules require distinct compliance with both service of notice on the company and advertisement to others, and publication alone cannot substitute for mandatory service on the company.

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