Strict compliance with verifying affidavit rules is mandatory in winding up petitions; unauthorised support affidavit defeats maintainability.

A winding up petition must be supported by a verifying affidavit sworn by the petitioner or a duly authorised person under Rule 21 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959. Where the affidavit was sworn by a pairokar without shown authority, the defect was treated as fatal because the affidavit forms substantive evidence and strict compliance is required. A later affidavit by petitioner No. 2 did not cure the inconsistency between the petition and the original supporting affidavit, and leave under the proviso was not justified. The petition was therefore not maintainable and was liable to be dismissed.

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Issues: Whether a winding up petition was maintainable when the verifying affidavit was not filed by the petitioner or a duly authorised person and thus did not comply with Rule 21 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959.

Analysis: The petitioning requirement under Rule 21 was mandatory. The affidavit supporting the winding up petition had been sworn by a pairokar, not by the petitioner or a person shown to be duly authorised by the petitioner. The later attempt to file an affidavit of petitioner No. 2 did not cure the defect, because the original petition and supporting affidavit were fundamentally inconsistent and the circumstances did not justify leave under the proviso to Rule 21. Since an affidavit in support of a winding up petition operates as substantive evidence, strict compliance with the rule was necessary, especially where the deponent was connected with disputes adverse to the respondent-company.

Conclusion: The petition was not maintainable for non-compliance with Rule 21 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959, and was liable to be dismissed.

Ratio Decidendi: A winding up petition must be supported by a verifying affidavit strictly in accordance with Rule 21, and where the petition is not verified by the petitioner or a duly authorised person, the defect is fatal unless leave is properly justified and granted under the proviso.

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