Statutory tribunal powers are confined to express legal authority; preliminary issues cannot be decided by implication.

A statutory tribunal can exercise only the powers expressly conferred by the parent statute and valid regulations. The Companies Law Board had no general authority to decide preliminary issues because the regulations did not grant that power, regulation 44 did not supply it, and the limited procedural powers under section 10E(4C) did not extend to Order XIV Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The pendency of BIFR proceedings did not change that jurisdictional limit. The result was that the tribunal could not determine preliminary objections as a preliminary issue unless such power was specifically authorised.

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Issues: Whether the Company Law Board had power to entertain and decide preliminary issues, and whether the absence of such power required rejection of the company petition at the threshold.

Analysis: The Company Law Board is a statutory body and can exercise only those powers conferred by the Companies Act and the regulations made thereunder. The regulations did not confer any general power to decide preliminary issues, and regulation 44 did not supply such authority. Section 10E(4C) of the Companies Act vested only limited civil court powers in the Board for specified procedural matters, not the full range of powers under the Code of Civil Procedure. On that basis, the power under Order XIV Rule 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure to decide preliminary issues could not be inferred. The pendency of proceedings before the BIFR did not alter this absence of jurisdiction to decide preliminary objections as a preliminary issue.

Conclusion: The Company Law Board had no power to decide preliminary issues beyond the limited powers expressly conferred by statute and regulation.

Final Conclusion: The appeal challenging the rejection of the preliminary objection succeeded, while the connected appeal seeking dismissal of the company petition failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A statutory tribunal cannot assume power to decide preliminary issues unless that power is expressly conferred by the parent statute or valid regulations; limited procedural powers under the Code of Civil Procedure do not include an implied authority to adjudicate preliminary issues.

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