Secured creditor can seek winding up without first relinquishing security; claim-proof requirements arise later in liquidation.

A secured creditor may present a winding up petition without first abandoning security, valuing it, or stating that it will stand outside the winding up; that requirement arises only at the stage of proving claims in liquidation. The distinction between admission of the petition and proof in liquidation means the creditor's secured status is not, by itself, a bar to maintainability. The company's admitted debt, failure to honour the settlement, and absence of any bona fide proposal to discharge the liability supported the winding up order, and the objection based on secured-creditor status was rejected.

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Issues: Whether a winding up petition by a secured creditor was maintainable without the creditor first stating that it would stand outside the winding up and relinquish or value its security, and whether the winding up order suffered from any legal error on that ground.

Analysis: A creditor, whether secured or unsecured, is entitled to present a winding up petition. The statutory scheme distinguishes the stage of admission of a winding up petition from the later stage of proving claims in liquidation. At the petition stage, a secured creditor is not required to abandon security or quantify the shortfall before seeking winding up. The option to enforce security, surrender it, or prove only for the balance arises when claims are proved in liquidation after a winding up order. The company had also acknowledged the debt, defaulted on the settlement, and had no bona fide proposal to satisfy the liability.

Conclusion: The objection based on the respondent's status as a secured creditor was rejected, and the winding up order was upheld.

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