Rule 164 appeal is appellate in substance, and a further intra-court appeal is barred by section 100A.

Rule 164 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 gives an aggrieved creditor a statutory remedy to challenge the official liquidator's decision on proof of debt, and that remedy is appellate in substance rather than a mere procedural label. Because it permits re-examination of the liquidator's decision by the court, it answers the accepted legal meaning of an appeal. Once the company judge decides such an appeal, a further intra-court appeal is barred by section 100A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The legal position on maintainability is therefore that the second appeal does not lie.

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Issues: Whether an appeal under rule 164 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 against the decision of the official liquidator is a true appeal and whether a further appeal to the Division Bench is barred by section 100A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Analysis: Rules 163 and 164 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 provide a statutory mechanism for the official liquidator to admit or reject proof of debt and for an aggrieved creditor to challenge that decision before the court. The scheme of sections 460(6), 483 and 643 of the Companies Act, 1956 shows that the liquidator acts under the control of the court and that the remedy under rule 164 is appellate in character, not a mere nomenclature. The accepted legal meaning of appeal is a statutory re-examination of a decision by a superior forum, and the court held that the remedy under rule 164 answers that description. Once the company judge decides such an appeal, a further intra-court appeal is not maintainable in view of the bar created by section 100A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Conclusion: The remedy under rule 164 is an appeal in law, and a further appeal against the company judge's order is barred. The objection to maintainability succeeds.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory remedy that enables a higher court to confirm, reverse or modify the liquidator's decision is an appeal in substance, and where a single judge decides that appeal, section 100A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 bars a further intra-court appeal.

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