Jurisdiction over leave to continue suit during liquidation lies with the High Court when winding up remains pending.

NCLT held that it had no jurisdiction to grant leave to continue a pending civil suit against a company under liquidation where winding up proceedings were still pending before the High Court and an Official Liquidator had been appointed. The Tribunal considered the statutory scheme and transfer provisions, and found that they did not permit it to assume control over a liquidation matter remaining before the High Court. The proper forum for any application seeking leave to proceed with the suit was therefore the High Court. The applicant was directed to seek appropriate relief there.

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Issues: Whether the NCLT had jurisdiction to grant leave to continue the pending civil suit against a company under liquidation when the winding up proceedings were pending before the High Court and the Official Liquidator had been appointed.

Analysis: The application sought leave under section 279 of the Companies Act, 2013 to continue a pending suit. The record showed that the company had been ordered to be wound up by the High Court and that the Official Liquidator had been appointed to carry out the liquidation process. The Tribunal noted that the liquidation proceedings remained pending before the High Court and that the transfer provisions and the statutory scheme did not justify the NCLT assuming jurisdiction in a matter still pending before the High Court. On that basis, the proper forum for any leave application was the High Court where the winding up matter was pending.

Conclusion: The NCLT held that it had no jurisdiction to grant leave in the matter and directed the applicant to move the High Court for appropriate relief.

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