2022 (11) TMI 934

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....aking any further steps in pursuance of an inquiry report dated 13th April, 2021. The petitioners also seek a restraint on the respondents from acting in pursuance of a further inquiry report issued to the petitioners from 7th October, 2021 to 26th July, 2022. 2. The case sought to be made out by the petitioners is that the ROC cannot initiate multiple proceedings under section 206(4) of The Companies Act, 2013, in respect of the same alleged contraventions. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioners places an order passed by the ROC under section 206(4) of the Act dated 4th July, 2022 pursuant to which summons were issued on 26th July, 2022 and the petitioners attended a hearing in August, 2022. Counsel submits that the petitioners sub....

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...., Kolkata, the Writ Court should not intervene and restrain the ROC from proceeding in terms of the impugned inquiry report dated 13th April, 2021. 4. A careful perusal of the provisions relating to inspection, inquiry and investigation of companies under sections 206-210 of the Companies Act, 2013 indicates that the sequential steps required to be taken by the ROC must be followed before the ROC submits the report in writing to the Central Government for further investigation into the affairs of the company if necessary. The stage of filing a report comes only after inspection of books of accounts or conducting inquiry under sections 206 and 207 of the Act. Section 210 is the culmination of this batch of provisions relating to inspection,....

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....ings is to be accepted, the petitioners have every opportunity to contest the report as part of its defence in the winding up proceedings. Moreover, the contention raised before this Court are purely factual in nature, namely the time of initiation of the two proceedings and whether the said proceeding was served on the petitioners at the material point of time. The Writ Court is not the forum for deciding these questions particularly where the parties are before the statutory forum which is mandated to deal with these factual questions. 7. It is also relevant to state that the provisions for inspection, inquiry and investigation are distinct from sections 271-273 dealing with the circumstances in which a company may be wound up by the Tri....