Service at Registered Office: absence of required notice bars a creditor's winding-up petition despite subsequent participation.

Absence of service of the statutory demand at the company's registered office prevents invocation of the statutory presumption of inability to pay under the Companies Act; the mandatory requirement of service at the registered office was not satisfied because the notice was served at a different address. The defect was not cured by substituted service, counsel's appearances, or participation in proceedings, and therefore the winding-up petition was not maintainable; the order admitting the petition was set aside and the appeal allowed.

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Issues: Whether absence of statutory notice served at the company's registered office under section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956, renders a petition for winding up by a creditor not maintainable.

Analysis: Relevant legal framework is section 434(1) of the Companies Act, 1956, which conditions a company being deemed unable to pay its debts upon service of a demand at the company's registered office and non-payment thereafter. The material facts show that the demand notice was not served at the registered office; addresses in the petition and annexed notice indicate service at New Delhi rather than at the registered office in Secunderabad. Subsequent court process included substituted service, appearance or representations by counsel for the respondent, participation in proceedings, opportunities to file a counter and to cross-examine, and eventual admission of evidence by the petitioner. Reliance on prior High Court decisions establishing mandatory requirement of service at the registered office under section 434(1) is noted. The absence of service at the registered office precludes invocation of the statutory presumption under section 434(1), and that defect is not cured merely by subsequent knowledge or participation in court proceedings.

Conclusion: The petition for winding up was not maintainable for want of service of the statutory notice at the registered office under section 434(1) of the Companies Act, 1956; the appeal is allowed and the order admitting the company petition is set aside.

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