STAR ENGINEERING WORKS LIMITED Vs. OFFICIAL LIQUIDATOR OF KRISHANKUMAR MILLS COMPANY LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this application in the from of a Judges Summons it is prayed that the applicant may be permitted to proceed with Long Cause Suit No. 254 of 1972 filed by the applicant against the Company in liquidation in the High Court of Judicature at Bombay or in the alternative that the suit may be ordered to be transferred to this Court and the applicant may be permitted to proceed with the same. The applicant has further prayed that the respondents be ordered to give an inspection of the properties of the said Company in their custody to the applicant. This Judges Summons came up for hearing before our learned brother J. B. Mehta J. and by order dated April 15 1974 our learned brother referred it to a Division Bench because he felt that the point involved was an important point and of wide public importance and required full consideration of the various decisions hereinafter referred to.

(2.) The applicant is a Limited Company and carries on business inter alia of manufacturing and supplying machinery spare parts etc and these goods were supplied to the Company under liquidation namely the Krishnakumar Mills Company Limited which had its factory at Mahuva in Bhavnagar District of Gujarat State. The winding up order against Company in liquidation was passed by this Court on February 7 1972 and the suit which is referred to in the prayer clause of the Judges Summons was filed on March 13 1972 by the applicant Company on the Original Side of the High Court of Bombay. In the suit the applicant before us prayed for a decree in the sum of Rs. 3 56 458 ps. together with interest and costs and in the alternative they prayed that some goods mentioned in Annexure C to the plaint should be returned to the plaintiffs in specie and they also prayed for a decree in the sum of Rs. 96 196 ps. together with interest and costs and in the further alternative they have prayed that the defendants be ordered to return to the plaintiffs the goods mentioned in Annexure C and to pay to the plaintiffs the sum of Rs. 2 69 36 ps. and interest and costs.

(3.) In the plaint which has been filed in Suit No. 254 of 1972 it is the case of the plaintiffs that between March 1965 and January 1970 at the request of the defendants the plaintiffs manufactured and supplied to the defendants various goods at the rates agreed upon between the parties from time to time and in respect thereof made out bills in favour of the defendants at agreed rates. It is the case of the plaintiffs that they have received payment for part of the goods and some of the goods which were rejected by the defendants were returned back to the plaintiffs and in respect of those goods thus received back credit notes aggregating to Rs. 2 11 445 ps. were issued by the plaintiffs in favour of the defendants. In paragraph 4 of the plaint it is the contention of the plaintiffs that the defendants have out of the goods supplied to them rejected some of the goods the value whereof aggregates to Rs. 87 402 ps. as per particulars annexed as Annexure C to the plaint. According to the plaint the defendant had rejected the said goods and hence the property therein never passed to the defendants and the plaintiffs are entitled to receive the said goods back from the defendants.