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Issues: (i) whether the petitioner had established a determined, ascertained, definite and undisputed debt warranting winding up of the respondent company; (ii) whether the winding up petition was barred by section 10 of the Interest on Delayed Payments to Small Scale and Ancillary Industrial Undertakings Act, 1993; and (iii) whether the prior decree obtained under that Act barred the petition by res judicata or by reason of availability of an alternative remedy under section 443(2) of the Companies Act, 1956.
Issue (i): Whether the petitioner had established a determined, ascertained, definite and undisputed debt warranting winding up of the respondent company.
Analysis: The work order, certified bills, tax deductions at source, failure to pay within the stipulated time, and non-response to the statutory notice together constituted strong evidence of an admitted liability. The absence of any objection from the respondent company or other interested persons further supported the conclusion that the amount claimed remained unpaid and was not genuinely disputed. In winding up proceedings, the relevant enquiry is whether the company is unable to pay its debts, not whether the creditor is merely pursuing recovery of money.
Conclusion: The debt was held to be determined, definite and undisputed, and the petitioner succeeded on this issue.
Issue (ii): Whether the winding up petition was barred by section 10 of the Interest on Delayed Payments to Small Scale and Ancillary Industrial Undertakings Act, 1993.
Analysis: The overriding clause in section 10 operates only where there is inconsistency between the Act and another law. The Act was treated as a beneficial measure providing relief for delayed payments to small industrial undertakings, but it did not regulate or exclude the jurisdiction of the company court to wind up a company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. No inconsistency between the two enactments was shown.
Conclusion: The petition was not barred by section 10, and the objection was rejected.
Issue (iii): Whether the prior decree obtained under the Interest on Delayed Payments to Small Scale and Ancillary Industrial Undertakings Act, 1993 barred the petition by res judicata or by reason of availability of an alternative remedy under section 443(2) of the Companies Act, 1956.
Analysis: The proceeding before the Facilitation Council was for recovery of money, whereas the company petition sought winding up on the ground of inability to pay debts. The two proceedings were therefore not on the same issue, and res judicata did not apply. The existence of another remedy and a decree in the creditor's favour did not, by itself, make it unreasonable to order winding up when the debt remained unpaid and the company offered no substantial defence.
Conclusion: The petition was maintainable, and neither res judicata nor section 443(2) defeated the winding up prayer.
Final Conclusion: The court found that the respondent company had failed to discharge an undisputed debt and that no statutory or procedural objection prevented winding up.
Ratio Decidendi: Where a company owes an undisputed debt and fails to pay despite statutory notice, the company court may order winding up unless a genuine statutory bar or a substantial defence making winding up unreasonable is shown; a money-recovery decree under another enactment does not bar such proceedings.
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