Winding-up petition advertisement: omission of Official Gazette publication did not vitiate the order when court-directed newspaper notice was given.

Rule 24 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 distinguishes the substantive requirement of advertising a winding-up petition from the procedural mode and timing of that advertisement, and makes the manner of publication subject to the Court's directions. Read with rules 96 and 99, non-publication in the Official Gazette does not by itself invalidate the proceeding if the petition was advertised in the newspapers as ordered by the Court. Authorities dealing with failure to comply with the advertisement requirement itself were distinguished. The review challenge based on absence of Gazette publication therefore failed, and the winding-up order was not shown to be erroneous on that ground.

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Issues: Whether non-publication of a winding-up petition in the Official Gazette, despite publication in the newspapers directed by the Court, rendered the petition not ripe for hearing and vitiated the winding-up order.

Analysis: Rule 24 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 distinguishes between the substantive requirement that a petition be advertised and the procedural manner and time of such advertisement. Rule 24(2) deals with dispensation of the requirement of advertisement, while rule 24(1) governs the mode, medium, and timing of publication and is expressly subject to any contrary direction of the Court. Read with rules 96 and 99, the rules leave the manner of advertisement to judicial direction, and the omission of publication in the Official Gazette does not by itself invalidate the order if the publication was made in accordance with the Court's directions. The authorities relied upon by the applicant were distinguished on the ground that they concerned non-compliance with the substantive requirement of publication itself, not deviation from the mode of publication ordered by the Court.

Conclusion: The review application was not maintainable on this ground and the winding-up order was not shown to be erroneous for want of Official Gazette publication.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the winding-up order failed, and the application for review was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the rules make the manner of advertisement subject to the Court's directions, non-publication in one of the ordinarily prescribed media does not vitiate the proceeding if the substantive requirement of advertisement has been complied with in the manner directed by the Court.

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