Voluntary liquidator recovery claims against a disputed debtor must be pursued by civil suit, not summary company petition.

A voluntary liquidator may, with the requisite sanction, exercise powers available in a court winding up, including instituting proceedings in the company's name. However, section 468 of the Companies Act, 1956 is limited to contributories and specified custodians such as trustees, receivers, bankers, agents, officers, or employees, and does not extend to a mere debtor of the company. A disputed claim against a debtor therefore cannot be recovered by a summary company petition and must be pursued by a suit in the ordinary civil forum. The liquidator's remedy for such recovery lies in ordinary civil proceedings, not in a summary direction before the company court.

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Issues: Whether a company petition by a voluntary liquidator can be maintained to compel a disputed debtor of the company to pay the alleged dues, or whether the liquidator must sue for recovery in the ordinary civil forum.

Analysis: The scheme of sections 512 and 468 of the Companies Act, 1956 shows that a voluntary liquidator, with the requisite sanction, may exercise the powers available to a liquidator in a winding up by the court, including the power to institute or defend proceedings in the name of the company. Section 468, however, is confined to requiring contributories and specified persons such as trustees, receivers, bankers, agents, officers, or employees to pay or deliver property in their custody or control. A debtor of the company is not among the persons covered by that provision. The definition of contributory also does not include a mere debtor. The authorities relied upon support the view that disputed claims against debtors cannot be recovered by a summary application before the company court and must be pursued by a suit.

Conclusion: The petition was not maintainable insofar as it sought a summary direction against a debtor to pay a disputed debt, and the liquidator had to proceed by way of a suit.

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