Court fee for company court applications under section 446(2)(b) and set-off claims applies under the residuary schedule entry.

Section 446(2)(b) proceedings in company matters were treated as subject to the A.P. Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956, because court-fee liability falls within State legislative competence and the Companies (Court) Rules apply the Code of Civil Procedure, including set-off and counter-claim principles. A set-off or counter-claim in such proceedings was therefore chargeable to fee, and the Act's provisions on filing, valuation and computation of court fee governed the levy. As no specific entry covered applications under section 446(2)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956, they were not treated as ad valorem plaints, but as applications attracting fee under the residuary Schedule II entry then applicable.

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Issues: Whether a petition under section 446(2)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956, filed by the Official Liquidator, and a plea of set off taken in the written statement, require payment of court fee under the A.P. Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956, and if so, under which provision.

Analysis: Section 446(2) confers wide jurisdiction on the Company Court to entertain and dispose of claims by or against the company, and the proceedings under the Companies Act are regulated by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 through Rule 6 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959. The plea of set off and counter-claim is therefore available in company proceedings, but the A.P. Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956 applies to court-fee levy even in matters under the Companies Act because court fees fall within the State Legislature's competence. Section 4 bars filing of documents chargeable with fee without payment, section 8 treats set off and counter-claim as plaints for fee purposes, and section 15 and section 19, read with the Schedules, govern computation of fee. Since Article 11(r) of Schedule II referred only to petitions under the old Companies Act, 1913, and there was no specific provision for applications under section 446(2)(b) of the Companies Act, 1956, such applications could not be treated as ad valorem plaints, but they still attracted court fee as applications. In the absence of a specific entry, the residuary article was held applicable until suitable amendment was made.

Conclusion: Court fee is payable on an application under section 446(2)(b) and on a plea of set off taken in such proceedings, and in the then existing statutory framework the proper levy was under Article 11(u) of Schedule II of the A.P. Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956.

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