Banking company arrangements: later statute did not exclude court power to sanction a scheme under the earlier companies law.

Section 38(1) of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 was analysed as a winding-up provision that did not expressly exclude the court's power under section 153 of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 to sanction a scheme of arrangement for a banking company unable to pay its debts. The text states that the Banking Companies Act was enacted in addition to, and not in derogation of, the Indian Companies Act, and that the repeal provisions only displaced Part X-A of the earlier Act. It further notes that section 45 of the Banking Companies Act itself contemplates court-sanctioned compromises or arrangements with Reserve Bank certification. On that basis, the two enactments were treated as consistent and the court's arrangement power as remaining available.

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Issues: Whether section 38(1) of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 repealed or was repugnant to section 153 of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 so as to exclude the court's power to sanction a scheme of arrangement in relation to a banking company unable to pay its debts.

Analysis: Section 38(1) of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 provides for winding up of a banking company unable to pay its debts, but it does not expressly exclude the court's powers under section 153 of the Indian Companies Act, 1913. Section 2 of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 declares that that Act is in addition to, and not in derogation of, the Indian Companies Act, 1913 except expressly provided. The repeal provisions in section 56 and the Second Schedule show that only Part X-A of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 was repealed, while section 45 of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 itself contemplates compromises or arrangements sanctioned by the court with Reserve Bank certification. There is no inconsistency between the two enactments, and the provisions can stand together.

Conclusion: Section 38(1) of the Banking Companies Act, 1949 does not take away the court's power to act under section 153 of the Indian Companies Act, 1913 in relation to a banking company unable to pay its debts, and the objection was rightly overruled.

Ratio Decidendi: A later statute does not impliedly repeal an earlier provision unless the two are so inconsistent or repugnant that they cannot operate together; where the later enactment is expressed to be in addition to, and not in derogation of, the earlier law, the earlier power remains available unless expressly excluded.

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