Broad construction of "creditor" under company restoration law includes contingent pecuniary claims after striking off.

Section 353(6) of the Companies Act, 1948 was construed broadly so that "creditor" includes a person with a contingent or prospective pecuniary claim who is aggrieved by a company's striking off. The analysis distinguished this grievance-based restoration remedy from provisions using expressly wider creditor categories, and concluded that the term was not confined to debts already fixed and ascertained. On that basis, a plaintiff whose damages action had been frustrated by the company's removal from the register fell within the provision and could seek restoration of the company's name.

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Issues: Whether a plaintiff in damages proceedings against a company, whose action was rendered ineffective after the company was struck off the register, is a "creditor" entitled to seek restoration of the company's name under section 353(6) of the Companies Act, 1948.

Analysis: The statutory context showed that section 353(6) used the bare word "creditor" in a grievance-based remedy, unlike section 224(1), which expressly extended winding-up applications to actual, contingent, and prospective creditors. Although alternative routes under the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act, 1930 and section 352 of the Companies Act, 1948 were unavailable, the wording and purpose of section 353(6) indicated that "creditor" should not be confined to debts already fixed and ascertained. Earlier authorities, though not directly in point, supported a liberal approach to the concept of creditor where claims were contingent or unliquidated but had real pecuniary substance.

Conclusion: The word "creditor" was held wide enough to include the petitioner, and the petition for restoration succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Under section 353(6) of the Companies Act, 1948, "creditor" is to be construed broadly so as to include a person with a contingent or prospective pecuniary claim who is aggrieved by the company's removal from the register.

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