1 922.ca-335-11 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION jmi COMPANY APPLICATION NO. 335 OF 2011 IN COMPANY APPLICATION NO. 1294 OF 2007 IN COMPANY PETITION NO. 642 OF 1983. Venkateshwar Somani. ..Petitioner. vs. Shree Niwas Cotton Mills Ltd. ..Applicant. And The Official Liquidator of Shree Niwas Cotton Mills Ltd. ..Respondent. .... Mr.Janak Dwarkadas, Senior Counsel, Mr. Cyrus Ardeshir, Counsel, Mr. Rahul Dwarkadas, Mr. Neveille Mukharji, i/b. Wadia Ghandy & Co., for Petitioner. Ms.Jane Cox, for Workers. Dr. T. Pandian, Official Liquidator, present. .... CORAM : S.J. KATHAWALLA, J. DATE : 5TH AUGUST 2011. P.C. : By this Company Application, the Petitioner has prayed for the following relief :- “That this Court be pleased to extend the period mentioned in paragraph 2 of the Affidavit dated August 2009 filed by Venkateshwar O. Somani on behalf of the Applicant Company containing the undertaking, from 3rd August 2011 to 31st March 2012 (Exhibit ‘C’ herein).” The undertaking given in the said Affidavit dated 3rd August 2011 reads as under :- “The Company does hereby undertake that it shall make all endeavours to restart its operations within 24 (twenty-four) 2 922.ca-335-11 months from the date of the order passed by this Court dated 3rd August 2009 in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in captioned Company Application.” 2. In paragraph 6 of the Affidavit in support of the Company Application, it is stated that the Company has taken various steps towards restarting/ modernization of the unit including applying / obtaining permissions from various Government Departments, namely, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Government of Maharashtra (Textiles Department), etc. The Company has also summarized the endeavours/steps taken by the Company in the last 23 months to revive the operations of the Applicant- Company. 3. The learned Senior Advocate appearing for the Applicant Company has therefore submitted that in view of the above facts and circumstances, the Company Application be allowed. It is submitted that if orders as prayed are not passed, grave harm will be caused to the Applicant who has incurred expenses in the sum of Rs. 1.93 crores towards the construction of new building and Rs. 5.4 cores towards the import of the machines for use in the Unit. Additionally, the Applicant has already deposited Rs. 125 crores with the Official Liquidator pursuant to the order of this Court and has complied with all the directions passed by this Court. It is further submitted that the revival of the unit will ensure that some of the eligible erstwhile workers and/or their family members may once again be employed with the applicant company and have the opportunity to earn their livelihood. 4. In view of the above, I am of the view that the Applicant Company has shown sufficient cause for granting extension of the period mentioned in paragraph 2 of the Affidavit dated August 2009 3 922.ca-335-11 on behalf of the Applicant Company containing the undertaking from 3rd August 2011 to 31st March 2012. The Company Application is therefore allowed in terms of prayer clause (a). 5. However, Ms. Jane Cox appearing on behalf of 6 ex-workers has submitted that the Official Liquidator has not adjudicated their claims as directed by the earlier order of this Court dated 3rd August 2009. She submits that the workers have informed her that they have been informed by the Official Liquidator that their claims have not been adjudicated since the promoters have not provided the Official Liquidator with sufficient funds. The Official Liquidator who is present in Court informs the Court that he has substantial amounts deposited with him by the promoters and he will be able to pay the workmen once their claims are adjudicated. Though the present Company Application no way concerns the adjudication process commenced by the Official Liquidator qua the claims of the workmen, the Official Liquidator is directed to pass his final orders as regards the claims of the said 6 workmen within a period of 12 weeks from today. [ S.J. KATHAWALLA, J. ]