PATEL ENGINEERING CO LTD Vs. OFFICIAL LIQUIDATOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS order will dispose of the application preferred by M/s. Patel Engineering Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as the 'applicant') being Company Application No. 405 of 2002 and all reports of the official Liquidator concerning the issue regarding the steps to be taken in respect of the premises in question, which were originally occupied by the company in liquidation on lease.

(2.) THE above numbered application has been filed by the applicant praying that the Official Liquidator be directed to hand over quiet, vacant and peaceful possession of the premises described in Exhibits "a" and "c" to the affidavit in support of that application and also for further relief of payment of a sum of Rs. 7,24,03,372/- (Rupees Seven Crores Twenty Four Lakhs Three thousand Three Hundred Seventy Two), together with interest at the rate of 15% per annum on the principal sum of Rs. 59,20,411/- (Rupees Fifty Nine lakhs Twenty Thousand Four Hundred Eleven) from the date of filing of the application till the payment and/or realisation. Insofar as relief (b) of payment of amounts referred to above is concerned, Counsel appearing for the applicant has made a statement across the bar, on instructions, that the applicant shall not press this relief, in the event the Official Liquidator was directed to hand over quiet, vacant and peaceful possession of the premises in question. In the circumstances, the only issue that requires to be considered by me is whether the Official Liquidator should be directed to deliver quiet, vacant and peaceful possession of the premises in question to the applicant landlord.

(3.) THE Official Liquidator as well as the Ex-director have already placed on record their respective stand that holding on to the premises in question, is not essential any more. It is not in dispute that the company had stopped its activities and business since long and now the company has already been directed to be wound up by order dated 23rd January, 2004. That order is holding the field as of now. In other words, the Official Liquidator as well as the Ex-director have conceded the position that the premises in question are no longer required for the company in liquidation. If it is so, ordinarily, having regard to the legal position enunciated by the Apex Court in the case of (Ravindra Ishwardas Sethna and another v. Official Liquidator, High Court, Bombay and another), reported in A. I. R. 1983 S. C. 1061, particularly paragraphs 9 and 11 thereof, this Application ought to succeed. Paras 9 and 11 of the said decision read thus :-