Limitation for official liquidator claims under company winding up is governed by Article 137, with Section 458A excluding statutory periods.

A claim petition by an official liquidator under section 446(2)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956 is an application to enforce a legally enforceable claim, not a suit, so article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963 applies. Limitation begins when the winding-up order is made or a provisional liquidator is appointed. Section 458A then excludes, in computing limitation, both the period from commencement of winding up to the winding-up order and the additional one-year period after that order. On that construction, the claims were within time and the limitation objection failed.

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Issues: Whether a claim petition under section 446(2)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956, filed by the official liquidator in respect of a claim alive on the date of the winding-up order, is governed by article 137 of the Limitation Act, 1963, and whether section 458A of the Companies Act, 1956 excludes both the period from commencement of winding up to the winding-up order and the further one-year period after the order.

Analysis: A claim petition under section 446(2)(b) is an application for enforcing a legally enforceable claim and not a suit. The right to move the company court arises when the winding-up order is made or a provisional liquidator is appointed, so article 137 applies and limitation runs from that date. Section 458A, on its terms, excludes two periods in computing limitation: the interval from commencement of winding up to the date of the winding-up order and an additional year thereafter. The provision is intended to facilitate expeditious and summary liquidation proceedings, and there is no basis to confine its operation so as to deny exclusion of the earlier period merely because the claim was still alive on the date of the winding-up order.

Conclusion: The claim petitions were within time and the limitation objection fails.

Final Conclusion: The appeals were rejected on the ground that the claims under section 446(2)(b) were not barred by limitation after applying article 137 and section 458A.

Ratio Decidendi: A money claim by the official liquidator under section 446(2)(b) is an application governed by article 137, with limitation beginning from the winding-up order or appointment of a provisional liquidator, and section 458A excludes both statutory periods specified therein in computing limitation.

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