Finality of court-confirmed liquidation sales upheld where no cogent reason or better bona fide offer justified interference.

A court-confirmed sale in liquidation should not be recalled or set aside absent cogent reasons, particularly where the purchaser has altered its position and no bona fide higher offer is produced. The Court found that the Official Liquidator had been informed at the relevant stage, the company had already been given repeated chances to clear its dues, and the sale price was not shown to be so inadequate as to justify interference. It therefore declined to reopen the concluded transaction and upheld the confirmed sale, while directing a limited factual inquiry on possible excess land in possession.

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Issues: Whether a court-confirmed sale of assets in liquidation should be recalled or set aside for alleged non-intimation to the Official Liquidator, inadequacy of price, and the possibility of obtaining a higher offer.

Analysis: A sale conducted under court supervision and confirmed by the Court attains a strong degree of finality and ought not to be disturbed except for cogent reasons. The Court found that the company had repeatedly been given opportunities to clear the dues, but those efforts failed. The Official Liquidator had in fact been informed at the relevant stage. The sale price, though below valuation, was not shown to be so inadequate as to justify upsetting the confirmed sale, particularly when no viable higher offer was brought before the Court. The purchaser had already altered its position by paying the balance consideration and spending further sums to make the factory operational, so the balance of convenience did not support interference.

Conclusion: The applications seeking recall of the confirmed sale were rejected and the sale in favour of the purchaser was not set aside.

Final Conclusion: The Court upheld the confirmed sale and declined to reopen the concluded transaction, while directing a limited factual inquiry regarding possible excess land in possession.

Ratio Decidendi: A court-confirmed sale should not be set aside after it has attained finality unless cogent reasons are shown, especially where the purchaser has changed position and no better bona fide offer is available.

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