TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (10) TMI 1043
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....Judge directed the Appellant Company to bear and deposit, within one week, the entire expenses incurred by the Official Liquidator towards securing the property bearing Plot No. GH-12A, Sector-1, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh [Subject Property] . The Order further provides that, in the event of non-compliance, Respondent No. 1/Official Liquidator would be at liberty to initiate steps for liquidation of the Appellant Company's assets. 3. The Appellant, however, disputes this determination and asserts that the subject property has been wrongly identified as belonging to it. Consequently, the fastening of liability upon the Appellant to bear the said expenses is, according to it, wholly unjustified. BRIEF FACTS: 4. The Appellant Company was placed under provisional winding-up by an Order of this Hon'ble Court dated 23.02.2016, pursuant to which Respondent No. 1/Official Liquidator was appointed as the Provisional Liquidator. 5. In discharge of his duties, the Official Liquidator took possession of several assets, which, according to him, included the subject property, i.e., Plot No. GH-12A, Sector-1, Greater Noida. To safeguard the said property, the Official Liquidator eng....
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....llant ought not to be made to suffer for the consequences of such an erroneous assumption. 14. Learned counsel for the Appellant would also contend that reliance on the statement of Mr. Anil Sharma, Ex-Director of the Appellant Company, recorded under Rule 130 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 [Company Rules], is wholly misconceived, since the statement was procured under undue pressure, threat, and misrepresentation, and therefore cannot be treated as a valid admission or a basis for fastening liability upon the Appellant. CONTENTIONS OF THE RESPONDENT: 15. Per contra, learned Counsel for the Official Liquidator would contend that the entire action of taking possession of the subject property and providing security thereon was undertaken on a bona fide belief, based upon the statements tendered under Rule 130 of the Company Rules, as well as the conduct of the Appellant's ex-director. She would further contend that while making such a statement, the relevant particulars and details of the assets were not furnished, despite an undertaking having been given to provide the same within a period of seven days. 16. In support of her submission, she would place reliance on....
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....penses regarding security incurred after 30.11.2017 by the respondent company including for Plot No.GH-12A, Sector-I, Greater Noida, UP. The respondent has not paid the stated amount. It is clarified that the order appointing the OL shall continue to operate and the OL will take steps accordingly. The OL will ensure that the registered office of the respondent company and all its bank accounts are sealed and they shall continue to remain sealed. Renotify on 20th February, 2019." 19. On the basis of these Orders, learned Counsel for the Official Liquidator would assert that the Appellant never raised any objection to the classification of the subject property as its asset, either immediately after the Order dated 12.12.2017 or even after the subsequent Order dated 03.10.2018 and nor did the Appellant avail of the statutory remedy of appeal against either of these Orders. 20. According to learned Counsel for the Official Liquidator, the Office of the Liquidator proceeded throughout in a bona fide manner, relying upon the statements and conduct of the Appellant's ex-director, and incurred considerable expenditure in safeguarding the property, and therefore, the....
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....s discretion otherwise orders, there shall be made out and submitted to the Official Liquidator a statement as to the affairs of the company in the prescribed form, verified by an affidavit, and containing the following particulars, namely: - (a) the assets of the company, stating separately the cash balance in hand and at the bank, if any, and the negotiable securities, if any, held by the company; (b) its debts and liabilities; (c) the names, residences and occupations of its creditors, stating separately the amount of secured and unsecured debts; and in the case of secured debts, particulars of the securities given, whether by the company or an officer thereof, their value and the dates on which they were given; (d) the debts due to the company and the names, residences and occupations of the persons from whom they are due and the amount likely to be realized on account thereof; (e) such further or other information as may be prescribed, or as the Official Liquidator may require. (2) The statement shall be submitted and verified by one or more of the persons who are at the relevant date the directors and by the person who is ....
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....he company shall be entitled, by himself or by his agent, at all reasonable times, on payment of the prescribed fee, to inspect the statement submitted in pursuance of this section, and to a copy thereof or extract therefrom. (7) Any person untruthfully so stating himself to be a creditor or contributory shall be guilty of an offence under section 182 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860); and shall, on the application of the Official Liquidator, be punishable accordingly. (8) In this section, the expression "the relevant date" means, in a case where a provisional liquidator is appointed, the date of his appointment, and in a case where no such appointment is made, the date of the winding up order." 26. In the present case, by an Order dated 23.02.2016, the learned Single Judge directed the Directors of the Appellant Company to file their statement of affairs within 21 days, and further directed that their statements be recorded under Rule 130 of the Company Rules. 27. Pursuant thereto, Mr. Anil Sharma, an ex-director of the Appellant Company, submitted his statements under Rule 130 on 12.05.2016 and again on 11.09.2017. Significantly, in the latter st....
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....t and reliable information. Any failure, suppression, or misrepresentation strikes at the very foundation of the liquidation machinery, prejudices creditors and stakeholders, and exposes the defaulting officers to civil and penal consequences, while also estopping them from subsequently adopting inconsistent or contrary positions. 34. In the present case, the record unequivocally establishes that at no stage prior to the Orders dated 12.12.2017 and 03.10.2018 did Mr. Anil Sharma, in his statements under Rule 130 of the Company Rules, disavow liability for the security expenses of the subject property. On the contrary, his conduct and undertakings, as recorded in the said Orders, consistently demonstrated acceptance of this liability. 35. This acceptance is further fortified by the handwritten undertaking dated 11.09.2017, wherein Mr. Anil Sharma clearly agreed to "bear all the official liquidator expenses i.e., security expenses since 26.04.16...". Notably, the Appellant has not claimed that these expenses pertain to any asset other than the subject property, leaving no room for doubt that the undertaking directly relates to the plot in question. 36. The Official Liquidato....