Winding-up procedure bars company petitions through a director once the Official Liquidator takes charge of assets.

A company ordered to be wound up loses the ability to institute or defend proceedings in its own name through a director; once the Official Liquidator has taken charge of its assets, such action can be taken only by the liquidator with court sanction. Applying that settled rule, the HC held that a petition filed in the company's name through its Director was not maintainable after winding up and takeover by the Official Liquidator.

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Issues: Whether a petition filed in the name of a company through its Director was maintainable after the company had been ordered to be wound up and its assets taken over by the Official Liquidator.

Analysis: On the admitted position that the company stood wound up and the Official Liquidator had taken charge of its assets, the Court applied the settled rule that, after winding up, legal proceedings on behalf of the company can be instituted or defended only by the liquidator with the sanction of the court. The Director was therefore not competent to maintain the petition in the company's name.

Conclusion: The petition was not maintainable at the instance of the petitioner-company through its Director.

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