Contractual basis for interest absent; court applies a reasonable rate from the claimed date and rejects unsupported administrative expenses.

Whether the Official Liquidator could recover an outstanding staff loan and claimed administrative expenses turned on pleaded facts and admissible evidence; the court treated unchallenged petition material as admitted where the respondent filed no reply, but held that a later produced loan agreement could not supply an unpleaded higher interest rate, applying instead a reasonable contractual rate from the claimed date; the Official Liquidator failed to substantiate administrative expenses at the asserted rate and that claim was rejected, while decree issued for principal with interest at the applied reasonable rate.

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Issues: Whether the Official Liquidator is entitled to recover from the respondent the outstanding staff loan principal and interest claimed and whether administrative expenses at the claimed rate are recoverable.

Analysis: The petition alleged an outstanding staff loan with supporting account statements and an unchallenged affidavit evidence; no reply was filed by the respondent and the material facts in the petition therefore stand admitted. No loan agreement specifying the claimed rate of interest was pleaded in the petition; an agreement annexed to later evidence cannot be relied upon to substantiate an unpleaded rate. In the absence of pleaded or admissible contractual basis for the higher rates claimed, an appropriate reasonable rate of interest is applied from the date claimed. The Official Liquidator presented no material to substantiate the claim for administrative expenses at the asserted rate.

Conclusion: Decree granted for principal sum of Rs. 9,75,000 with interest at 10% per annum from 01-04-1997 until realization; claim for administrative expenses at the rate claimed is rejected.

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