Basu, J. - (1.) This is au application by the petitioner, Fabulous Skin Supply Co., for the appointment of the official liquidator as the provisional liquidator of Savera and Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as " the company "). The petitioner is admittedly a creditor of the company having supplied to the company hides and skins, from time to time, over a long period. In fact, it is a curious case where the company, in its statement annexed to the affidavit, has admitted the claim of the petitioner to be larger than what the petitioner itself has claimed in the petition.
(2.) The grounds on which a provisional liquidator is sought to be appointed do not appear to be very clear. This is because, in para. 31 of the petition, it is stated that the application for the appointment of a provisional liquidator is being moved, inter alia, on the ground that there was a danger to the assets of the company and there was obvious insolvency and the company had admitted that it had no defence to the petition. In so far as the ground as to the danger to the assets is concerned, there does not seem to be any averment except the extract from a certain letter. But I propose to deal with the merits of this case after I have dealt with certain preliminary objections that have been taken.
(3.) The first preliminary objection that is taken by Mr. S.B. Mookherjee, appearing on behalf of the company, is that the application for the appointment of provisional liquidator is not maintainable at this stage. Reference is made to Section450 of the Companies Act, 1956, Sub-section (1) whereof provides as follows: " At any time after the presentation of a winding-up petition and before the making of a winding-up order, the court may appoint the official liquidator to be liquidator provisionally.";