JITENDRA JAYSINRAO SHINDE Vs. GUJARAT FILAMENTS LIMITED

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition under Sections 433 and 434 of the Companies Act, 1956 ("the Companies Act" for short) has been preferred, inter alia, with a prayer to wind­up the respondent Company, Gujarat Filaments Limited, and to appoint the Official Liquidator attached to this Court as Liquidator of the said Company for taking over the assets, books of accounts and the affairs of the Company, as provided under the Companies Act.

(2.) The petitioner is a sole proprietorship concern, engaged in the business of printing and distribution of various documents and records, including the Annual Reports of Companies. The respondent­Company had approached the petitioner for the purpose of hiring its professional services for the printing of respondent Company's Annual Report for the year 2014­15 and its distribution amongst its Shareholders. The respondent­Company, therefore, placed a work order on the petitioner to print 12,500 copies of the Annual Report. The amount agreed to be paid to the petitioner as per the same was Rs.13.50 paise per copy. In addition, the petitioner was also to be paid Rs.15/­ per despatch of each copy, as postal charges. The petitioner successfully executed the above­ mentioned work order and completed the task of printing and despatching the Annual Report to the Shareholders of the respondent­Company. The petitioner raised a bill dated 07.09.2015, bearing No.100, for an amount of Rs.3,50,805/­. Thereafter, the petitioner requested the respondent­Company, in writing, to settle the pending bills, on 15.09.2015 and 25.09.2015. In reply thereto, the petitioner received a letter dated 01.10.2015 from the respondent­Company, citing paucity of funds as the reason for being unable to settle the dues of the petitioner. The respondent­Company requested the petitioner to wait for some time. Despite the above, the respondent­Company did not make any payment to the petitioner, which sent further reminders dated 03.10.2015, 30.10.2015, 24.11.2015 and 21.12.2015, requesting the respondent to settle the outstanding bills. Once again, the respondent wrote to the petitioner, vide a letter dated 05.01.2016, admitting and acknowledging the amount due and payable but requesting the petitioner to grant some more time. The petitioner was constrained to issue a statutory notice under Section 433 read with Section 434 of the Companies Act on 27.01.2016, calling upon the respondent­Company to pay the amount of Rs.3,50,805/­ along with interest at the rate of twenty one per cent per annum within a period of twenty one days from the date of the receipt of the notice, failing which, appropriate legal proceedings would be initiated. In reply to the statutory notice, the petitioner received a letter dated 09.02.2016 from the respondent­Company, again asking for a week's time to settle the claim. Despite the receipt of the statutory notice and the assurance given in the letter dated 09.02.2016, the respondent­Company has not made the payment of the outstanding dues to the petitioner, till date. It is, therefore, the case of the petitioner that the respondent­Company has failed and neglected to make the payment of the outstanding dues of the petitioner and is, in fact, unable to pay the said dues as it has lost its substratum.

(3.) This Court has heard Mr.Divyesh Sejpal, learned advocate for the petitioner and Mr.Naveen K.Pahwa, learned advocate for M/s.Thakkar and Pahwa Advocates, for the respondent­Company, perused the averments made in the petition and documents annexed thereto.