Company winding-up claims by an official liquidator may be filed as applications, attracting fixed court fee instead of ad valorem fee.

A money claim by an official liquidator against a debtor of a company in liquidation may be presented as an application under section 446(2) of the Companies Act, 1956, rather than as a suit. Because the provision confers winding-up court jurisdiction over claims arising in the course of winding up and is intended to provide a speedy, inexpensive remedy, the court fee depends on the form actually adopted. A suit attracts ad valorem court fee under the Court Fees Act, 1870, but an application under the Companies Act falls under the fixed-fee provision in Schedule II. The claim was therefore correctly treated as an application with fixed court fee.

---

---

Issues: Whether a claim petition filed by the official liquidator under section 446(2) of the Companies Act, 1956 for recovery of money from debtors of the company is to be treated as a suit requiring ad valorem court fee, or as an application attracting fixed court fee.

Analysis: Section 446(2) confers jurisdiction on the winding-up court to entertain suits, claims, proceedings, and questions arising in the course of winding up. A money claim by the official liquidator against a debtor is covered by clause (b) of that provision and may be presented by way of application. The court fee depends on the nature of the proceeding actually filed: if it is a suit, ad valorem fee applies under article 1 of Schedule I of the Court Fees Act, 1870, but if it is an application under the Companies Act, it falls within article 1(d) of Schedule II. The purpose of the provision is to provide a speedy and inexpensive remedy for the company in liquidation, and the rules under the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 do not require such a claim to be filed as a suit.

Conclusion: The claim was rightly treated as an application under section 446(2) and fixed court fee of Rs. 13 was correctly paid. The issue was decided against the respondents.

---