Winding-up petition not maintainable where ex-director sought recovery of alleged dues through company court

An ex-director could not use winding-up jurisdiction as a substitute for recovery proceedings where the claim was an ordinary monetary dues dispute. The Rajasthan High Court accepted the preliminary objection that a company court is not the proper forum for enforcing such a personal claim when a civil remedy for recovery is available. On that basis, the winding-up petition under the Companies Act, 1956 was held not maintainable and rejected.

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Issues: Whether a winding up petition by an ex-director of a company to recover his alleged dues from the company was maintainable under the Companies Act, 1956.

Analysis: The petitioner was an ex-director of the respondent-company and sought winding up in respect of an alleged monetary claim. The objection taken was that such a petition could not be used as a means for recovery of dues, since the petitioner had an ordinary civil remedy for recovery of the amount claimed. The Court accepted this preliminary objection and held that an ex-director could not invoke the winding up jurisdiction of the company court for such a purpose.

Conclusion: The winding up petition was not maintainable and was rejected.

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