Sick company protection does not bar current excise collection on removal of goods, with no interim restraint granted.

Section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 protects a sick industrial company's property from winding up, execution, distress and similar coercive proceedings, but it does not bar Central Excise authorities from demanding and collecting excise duty when manufactured goods are removed. The excise levy was treated as a current statutory collection linked to the point of removal, not as a coercive proceeding against the company's assets. On that basis, the statutory bar was held inapplicable and no prima facie basis existed for interim restraint of excise collection.

---

---

Issues: Whether Section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 barred the Central Excise Authorities from demanding and collecting excise duty at the time of removal of manufactured goods from a sick industrial company, and whether an interim injunction restraining such collection could be granted.

Analysis: Section 22 was construed as protecting the properties of a sick industrial company against winding up, execution, distress and similar coercive proceedings. The collection of excise duty on removal of manufactured goods was held not to be a proceeding against the properties of the company and not a coercive process of the kind contemplated by the section. The scheme of excise duty, including collection at the point of removal and the obligation to remit duty, supported the view that the statutory bar did not extend to current excise collections. As Section 22 did not apply, no prima facie case was made out for interim restraint.

Conclusion: Section 22 of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 does not prevent the Central Excise Authorities from demanding and collecting excise duty at the time of removal of goods, and the request for interim injunction was rejected.

---