SICA inquiry pending on registration of reference triggers the statutory bar on further winding up proceedings.

Registration of a company's reference under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 was treated as the stage at which inquiry under section 16 became pending. The Court reasoned that once the Board registered the reference after consideration, the statutory inquiry was underway even if no fixed date for further proceedings had been set. As section 22 applies when an inquiry is pending, the bar against further winding up proceedings operated and those proceedings had to remain stayed. The decision treats the section 22 restraint as mandatory once the section 16 inquiry stage is reached.

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Issues: Whether registration of a reference under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 amounts to commencement and pendency of inquiry under section 16 so as to attract the bar under section 22 against further winding up proceedings.

Analysis: A reference made by the company under section 15 was received and subsequently registered by the Board. The registration was treated as the stage at which the Board, on consideration, had found that inquiry deserved to be made. The absence of a fixed date for further proceedings did not negate pendency of inquiry, because section 16 contemplates inquiry upon receipt of a reference and section 22 operates when such inquiry is pending. The statutory language of section 22 was treated as mandatory, and the stay of winding up proceedings followed once the inquiry stage was reached.

Conclusion: Registration of the reference was held to amount to pendency of inquiry under section 16, and the winding up proceedings were required to remain stayed under section 22.

Ratio Decidendi: Once a reference under the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 is registered by the Board after consideration, inquiry under section 16 is treated as pending and the statutory bar under section 22 applies to further winding up proceedings.

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