Section 458A limitation extension applies only to recoveries on behalf of the company, not for a secured creditor in winding up.

The extended limitation under section 458A of the Companies Act, 1956 applies only to proceedings instituted in the name of and on behalf of the company in winding up. Where the official liquidator recovered book debts under an arrangement for the benefit of a secured creditor, the recoveries were not made on behalf of the company, even if carried out through winding-up machinery. The court treated the source of authority, the accounting treatment, and the sanctioned arrangement as showing that the liquidator acted for the secured creditor outside the winding-up. The claim in the judge's summons was therefore barred by limitation, and the summons failed.

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Issues: Whether the official liquidator, acting pursuant to an arrangement with a secured creditor, was recovering book debts on behalf of the company so as to attract the extended limitation under section 458A of the Companies Act, 1956, and whether the claim in the judge's summons was barred by limitation.

Analysis: The statutory scheme distinguishes between the liquidator's powers to act in the name of and on behalf of the company, and a recovery undertaken for a secured creditor who stands outside the winding-up. The liquidator's authority under the Companies Act, 1956, did not extend to acting on behalf of secured creditors, and the arrangement, the reports to court, the sanctioned direction, the source of commission, and the accounting treatment all showed that the recoveries were being made for the benefit of the State Bank of India as secured creditor. Section 458A applies only where the proceedings are on behalf of the company and is intended to extend limitation in aid of winding-up proceedings. Since these recoveries were not on behalf of the company, the section could not be invoked. The Court also applied the principle that what cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly to defeat the bar of limitation.

Conclusion: Section 458A was inapplicable, the claim was time-barred, and the summons failed.

Final Conclusion: The liquidator could not use the winding-up machinery to recover debts barred in the secured creditor's hands, and the claim was rejected on limitation grounds.

Ratio Decidendi: The extension of limitation under section 458A is available only to proceedings instituted in the name of and on behalf of the company, not to recoveries undertaken by the liquidator for a secured creditor outside the winding-up.

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