Provident fund claims in winding up require crystallised liability, and unadjudicated damages and excess interest are not recoverable.

Employees' contribution could not be separately claimed in winding up where the wages had already been paid in full without deduction, because that amount had reached the employees and did not survive as a distinct recoverable debt. Damages under section 14B were not provable until first adjudicated by the competent provident fund authority after notice and hearing, as unliquidated damages do not crystallise into a debt before adjudication. Interest under section 7Q remained subject to the Companies (Court) Rules, under which post-winding-up interest is payable only where there is surplus and within the permitted limit; in the absence of surplus, no further interest could be directed beyond the admitted claim.

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Issues: Whether the applicant was entitled, in the company's winding up, to claim employees' contribution, damages under section 14B, and interest under section 7Q of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, beyond what the Official Liquidator had admitted.

Analysis: Employees' contribution could not be separately claimed where the wages had already been paid in full without deduction of such contribution, because that component had reached the employees directly and did not remain recoverable as a distinct debt in winding up. Damages under section 14B were held to require a prior adjudication by the competent provident fund authority after notice and hearing; until such adjudication, the liability remained unliquidated and did not constitute a provable debt in winding up. The principle that a claim for unliquidated damages does not crystallise into a debt until adjudicated was applied. As to interest under section 7Q, although the provision creates liability to pay interest on delayed provident fund dues, its recovery in winding up is governed by the Companies (Court) Rules, under which post-winding-up interest is payable only where there is surplus and only within the permitted limit. In the absence of surplus, no further interest beyond the admitted claim could be directed in winding up.

Conclusion: The additional claims for employees' contribution, damages under section 14B, and further interest under section 7Q were not allowable in the winding-up proceedings.

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