Winding up commencement and lack of leave rendered the post-petition sale void and blocked remittance from proceeds.

On restoration of the winding up order, winding up was treated as having commenced from the date of presentation of the petition, so the statutory consequences under the Companies Act applied from that date. After commencement of winding up, no suit or proceeding could continue against the company without leave of the company court, and any sale of company property effected after that stage without such leave was void. As no leave had been sought for the sale in question, the request to vacate the earlier order and permit remittance of pro rata secured creditors' shares from the sale proceeds could not be granted on the record before the court.

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Issues: Whether the applicant was entitled to have the earlier order vacated and to remit the pro rata shares of the secured creditors from the sale proceeds, in the context of winding up proceedings and a sale effected after commencement of winding up without leave of the company court.

Analysis: On the restoration of the winding up order, the winding up was treated as having commenced from the date of presentation of the winding up petition, bringing into operation the consequences flowing from the Companies Act. The statutory scheme required that after commencement of winding up no suit or proceeding could continue against the company except with leave of the company court, and any sale of the company's property effected after commencement of winding up without such leave would be void. Since no application for leave of the company court had been moved in respect of the sale in question, the request to vacate the earlier order and permit remittance from the sale proceeds could not be granted on the record then before the court.

Conclusion: The application was not maintainable on the facts shown and was rejected.

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