Co.App. 3/2009 BEFORE HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. MADAN B. LOKUR THE HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE A.K. GOSWAMI The appellant is aggrieved by an Administrative Order dated 1/6/2009 passed by t he learned Company Judge in C.P. No.1 of 1953. Firstly, it is clear from the above that liquidation proceedings in this matter have been pending for the last more than 50 years. The dispute in this case pertains to the sale of properties being the bu ilding and land appurtenant thereto belonging to the Shillong Banking Corporatio n Limited. The property is lying at Jail Road, opposite MTC building, Shillong. The Company is in liquidation and the said property is required to be pu t on sale for paying the amount due to the creditors of the Company. Pursuant to an order dated 24/7/2008 passed in the Company Petition, the sale of the aforesaid property was advertised in a daily newspaper, namely, The Shillon g times circulated in the State of Meghalaya. No reserve price was fixed in the said advertisement. The appellant association of tenants residing in the aforesaid property made the highest bid of Rs.4.35 crores. They also deposited 10% of the amount in terms of the advertisement. Accordingly, a note was put up on 17/3/2009 before the learned Company Judge see king orders of confirmation of the sale. On a subsequent note put up by the Depu ty Registrar (Judicial) of this Court on 24/3/09, the learned Company Judge rais ed certain queries which are as follows :- (i) whether any reserved price has be en fixed for the aforesaid properties? (ii) The nature of the property and (iii) The current market price of similar properties in the area. On the basis of the queries raised by the learned Company Judge, the Official Li quidator informed that there was no reserved price fixed for the aforesaid prope rty and that the land appurtenant thereto is covered by a lease granted by the G overnment of Meghalaya which is valid upto 30th April, 2030. To ascertain the cu rrent market price of the property, the services of Sri S. Das Purkayastha, Surv eyor and Loss Assessor was requisitioned by the Official Liquidator. Sri S. Das Purkayastha submitted a report dated 4/5/2009 in which he had drawn attention to a landed property which was sold at Rs.2100/- per Sq.ft in t he year 2006. Another property on lease for 40 years was recently sold at Rs.180 0/Sq.ft. It was mentioned in the report that no other property had been sold in the neighbourhood in the last 5 years. Sri S. Das Purkayatha also mentioned that there is another property close to the property in question for which the owner was demanding Rs.2800/Sq.ft, but there was no purchaser for this property at th at rate. In the assessment of Sri S. Das Purkayastha, the property of Shillong B anking Corporation Ltd (in Liquidation) would have a market rate of Rs.2600/- pe r Sq.ft. On the basis of the information supplied, the learned Company Judge by the impugned order, directed a fresh sale. Feeling aggrieved, the appellant has filed this appeal under Section 483 of the Companies Act, 1956. We are not going into the question of the maintain ability of the appeal in the present form since it is submitted by learned couns el for the appellant that if necessary, the appeal may be converted into a Writ Petition challenging the Administrative Order dated 1/6/2009, passed by the lear ned Company Judge. We find from a perusal of the documents on record and the bid given by t he appellant that the market value of the landed property which measures about 1 7,424 Sq.ft is Rs.2600/-Sq.ft. The appellant had given bid of Rs.4.35 crores whi ch works out to Rs.2500 per Sq.ft. We asked learned counsel for the appella nt to raise the bid to Rs.2600/- per Sq.ft and learned counsel responded in the affirmative agreeing to raise the bid to Rs.2600/-per Sq.ft Learned counsel for the Official Liquidator submits that there would be no objec tion if the aforesaid property is handed over to the appellant at Rs.2600/- per Sq.ft, which is the present market value, as determined by Sri S. Das Purkayatha . It is also mentioned that the litigation is pending for more than 50 years and some finality is now due. For the ends of justice and taking into consideration the offer of learned couns el for the appellant, we set aside the Administrative Order passed by the learne d Company Judge. The sale of the aforesaid property being the building and land appurtenant thereto belonging to the Shillong Banking Corporation Limited (in li quidation) and situate at Jail Road, opposite MTC Building is confirmed at Rs.26 00/-per Sq.ft. The appeal is disposed of with the above directions.