Company restoration after strike-off can follow where assets and business activity show the entity was not defunct.

A company struck off for failure to file annual returns and financial statements may be restored where contemporaneous records show subsisting assets and ongoing business activity. Sale deeds standing in the company's name, audited balance sheets for relevant years, and later income tax returns supported the conclusion that the company was not defunct. Mere filing defaults, without more, were insufficient to sustain striking off when the company's existence and business purpose were established. The restoration order was therefore made sustainable, subject to compliance requirements and costs.

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Issues: Whether the company's name, struck off from the register for non-filing of annual returns and financial statements, ought to be restored when the record showed subsisting assets and business activity.

Analysis: The appeal challenged the rejection of restoration under the company law mechanism governing striking off and restoration of names from the register. The record showed that sale deeds stood in the company's name, audited balance sheets were available for the relevant years, and income tax returns had been filed for later years. On those materials, the company could not be treated as a non-operational entity. Mere defaults in filing statutory returns, without more, did not justify continuation of the striking-off order where the company's existence, assets, and business purpose were established.

Conclusion: The striking-off action was held unsustainable and the company's name was directed to be restored, subject to compliance with the specified conditions and costs.

Final Conclusion: The impugned order was set aside and restoration of the company in the register was ordered, with consequential filing and payment obligations imposed on the company.

Ratio Decidendi: A company cannot be treated as defunct for striking-off purposes where contemporaneous material shows substantial assets and ongoing business activity, and restoration is justified despite filing defaults.

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