THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI COMPANY APPLICATION No.1524 &1525 OF 2010 IN COMPANY PETITION No.99 OF 2000 Dated: 29.12.2010 In Company Application No. 1524 of 2010: In the matter of Companies Act, 1956 And In the matter of M/s. Allwyn Auto Limited (In Liqn.) Between: M/s. Allwyn Auto Limited (In liqn.) Rep., by the Official Liquidator, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. …. Applicant In Company Application No.1525 of 2010: In the matter of Companies Act, 1956 And In the matter of M/s. Allwyn Auto Limited (In liqn.) Between: M/s. Allwyn Auto Limited (In liqn.) Rep., by the Official Liquidator, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad. … Applicant THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI COMPANY APPLICATION No.1524 OF 2010 AND COMPANY APPLICATION No.1525 OF 2010 IN COMPANY PETITION No.99 OF 2000 COMMON ORDER: The Official Liquidator attached to this Court representing M/s. Allwyn Auto Limited, the company in liquidation is the applicant in these two applications. C.A.No.1524 of 2010 is filed under Rules 167, 169 and 9 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 to condone the delay in filing the Certificate in Form No.71 in terms of Rule 167 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 and to take the same on record. C.A.No.1525 of 2010 is filed to declare a dividend @ 100% in a rupee to an individual workman of the company in liquidation and for other releifs as under: (i) declare a dividend @ 100% in a Rupee amounting to Rs.3,00,962-85 ps to Sri Syed Ali, an individual workman (as was done earlier to other creditor viz., Employees Co-op. Credit Society Limited) whose claim has been adjudicated after declaring said dividend. (ii) dispense to open a separate dividend account and allow the Official Liquidator to pay the dividend amount by way of cheque drawn from P/D account as the dividend now proposed is only to one individual workman of the company. (iii) dispense with the publication of notice of dividend in newspapers as the same is in respect of only one creditor, who is being individually informed. (iv) authorize Official Liquidator to send individual notice of dividend in Form No.138 along with proforma receipt to Sri Syed Ali. (v) authorize Official Liquidator to fix the schedule for making payment. (vi) authorize Official Liquidator to take all necessary actions and steps which are incidental to declaration and payment of dividend and to effectively implement the orders of this Hon’ble Court in that regard. (vii) order that the cost of this application do come out of the Estate of the Company (In liqn.).” I have heard Sri M. Anil Kumar, the learned counsel for the Official Liquidator. A perusal of the material available on record shows that M/s. Allwyn Auto Limited was directed to be wound up by this Court by order dated 17.02.201 made in C.P.No.99 of 2000 and the Official Liquidator attached to this Court was appointed as its Liquidator. Subsequently in terms of the directions of this Court in C.A.No.483 of 2003, dated 19.08.2003, the assets of the company in liquidation were sold for a sum of Rs.2,42,25,000/-. Thereafter as per the order of this Court dated 1.4.2004 in C.A.No.862 of 2004 the Official Liquidator invited the claims from the creditors of the company in liquidation by publishing a notice in Form No.63 in the newspapers fixing the last date for receipt of claims as 27.04.2004. In response to the same, 31 claims were received from various creditors. Out of the same, two claims were made by the Employees Co-operative Credit Society (for short, ‘the society’) and one Syed Ali, Ex-workman of the company in liquidation. The said claims were admitted under secured category and the admitted amount of Rs.28,18,314-73 ps was paid to the society on 27.04.2009. However the society preferred an appeal before this court and the same is still pending before a Division Bench. In the affidavit filed by the Official Liquidator in support of the applications, it is stated that the Certificate in Form No.71 as required under Rule 167 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 could not be filed within the prescribed time due to the delay on the part of creditors in furnishing the proof in support of their claims against the company in liquidation. Hence the Official Liquidator in C.A.No.1524 of 2010 sought condonation of the said delay. It is also stated that the claim of Sri Syed Ali - the Ex- workman of the company in liquidation - has been admitted for a sum of Rs.3,00,962-85 ps as secured debt towards his arrears of wages and other terminal benefits and the same is proposed to be disbursed together with the dividend out of the sale proceeds realized by sale of the assets of the company in liquidation. Hence, C.A.No.1525 of 2010 to declare a dividend @ 100% in a rupee on the amount proposed to be disbursed to the said workman and for other consequential directions. It is true that under Rule 167 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 the Certificate in Form No.71 should have been filed within three months from the date fixed for submission of the proofs. In the present case, the notice inviting claims from the secured and other creditors of the company in liquidation was published fixing the last date for receipt of claims as 27.04.2004. As such the certificate in Form No.71 should have been filed before this Court on or before 26.07.2004 and thus there is a delay of about 2318 days in filing the Form No.71 Certificate before this Court. It is submitted in the affidavit filed in support of the present applications that the delay in filing the certificate is only due to the time taken by the creditors to submit the proof in support of their claims and the delay is neither wilful nor wanton. The material available on record shows that the claim of the workman Sri Syed Ali could be adjudicated by the Official Liquidator by order dated 2.11.2010. Thereafter the said Certificate in Form No.71 furnishing a list of the creditors who submitted their claims, the amount of debts claimed by them, the proofs admitted or rejected and etc., has been filed before this Court along with the present applications. The facts noticed above, which are borne out of the record, disclose that there was delay on the part of the creditors in furnishing the proof in support of their claims and the adjudication of the claim of the workmen could be made only on 2.11.2010. The said claim itself was made belatedly in the year 2007 and the same was received in compliance with the orders of this Court in C.A.No.106 of 2007. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, I am satisfied that sufficient cause has been made out for the delay in filing the Certificate in Form No.71. Hence I deem it appropriate to condone the delay. Accordingly, the delay in filing the Certificate in Form No.71 is hereby condoned and the said certificate is taken on record with a direction to the Registrar to notify the same as provided under Rule 169 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959. So far as the dividend proposed to be declared and disbursed to the Ex. Workman of the company in liquidation, it is to be noticed that such dividend was already declared and disbursed to the other creditor viz., Employees Co-operative Credit Society Limited. Hence there can be no objection for declaring and disbursing the dividend to the Ex. Workman. As rightly submitted by the Official Liquidator, since the dividend is proposed only to one individual workman, who has been individually informed about the dividend, there is no need for publication of dividend notice in the newspapers as the same would involve huge expenditure. Similarly there is no need to open a separate dividend account since the dividend is proposed only to one creditor and the same may be paid straightaway from the P/D Account of the company in liquidation to save the time. Accordingly, all the reliefs sought by the Official Liquidator in C.A.No.1525 of 2010 are also hereby granted. In the result, both C.A.Nos.1524 & 1525 of 2010 are allowed. _____________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt. 29.12.2010 gbs