Auction purchaser not liable for pre-sale electricity dues where sale deed limited liability to post-confirmation claims.

Assets of a company in liquidation sold under a company-court sanctioned process were held not to carry pre-sale electricity dues where the sale deed limited the auction purchaser's liability to dues arising after confirmation of sale. The court distinguished authorities relied on by the electricity supplier because they did not involve a prior company-court process and a sale deed insulating the purchaser from past liabilities. As no contrary binding adjudication displaced that allocation of liability, the past dues remained claims against the company in liquidation and could not be fastened on the auction purchaser; the demand was unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether electricity dues pertaining to a company in liquidation could be recovered from the auction purchaser of its assets, and whether the impugned demand for such past dues was sustainable.

Analysis: The sale deed executed by the Official Liquidator specifically provided that dues up to the date of confirmation of sale would be treated as claims against the company in liquidation and that the auction purchaser would be liable only for dues arising after the relevant sale confirmation date. The respondent had earlier raised its claim before the Company Court but did not pursue it further after the claim was disposed of on the basis of an assurance said to have been given by the promoter. The cited electricity supply regulation was held inapplicable on the peculiar facts, and the decisions relied upon by the respondent were distinguished because they did not involve a prior company-court process culminating in a sale deed insulating the purchaser from pre-sale dues.

Conclusion: The past electricity dues of Dhar Cement Limited could not be fastened on the petitioner auction purchaser, and the demand was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: Where assets of a company in liquidation are sold under a company-court sanctioned process and the sale deed confines the purchaser's liability to post-confirmation dues, pre-sale electricity dues remain a claim against the company in liquidation and cannot be recovered from the auction purchaser in the absence of a contrary binding adjudication.

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