Gujarat High Court
Official Liquiditor Of M/S. Suvin ... vs Manager(Legal) on 9 April, 2018
Author: C.L. Soni
Bench: C.L. Soni
C/OLR/33/2018 ORDER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/OFFICIAL LIQUDATOR REPORT NO. 33 of 2018
In COMPANY PETITION NO. 415 of 1997
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OFFICIAL LIQUIDITOR OF M/S. SUVIN CEMENTS PVT. LTD.
Versus
MANAGER(LEGAL)
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Appearance:
MR JEET J BHATT(6154) for the PETITIONER(s) No. 1
OFFICIAL LIQUIDATOR(16) for the PETITIONER(s) No. 1
for the RESPONDENT(s) No. 1,2,3
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE C.L. SONI
Date : 09/04/2018
ORAL ORDER
1. Following are the prayers made in paragraph No.10 of the present report:
"(A) In view of facts stated in para (02) to (05) of this report, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to approve the action of the sale committee to fix upset price and EMD for sale of the assets and properties of the company in liquidation or fix any other amount as upset price and EMD which this Hon'ble Court may consider fit and proper for inviting offers for sale of the assets and properties of the above-named company in liquidation, from the prospective bidders.
(B) In view of facts stated in para (06) of this report, this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to approve the proposed sale schedule to sale of the assets of the company in liquidation.Page 1 of 5 C/OLR/33/2018 ORDER
(C) In view of facts stated in para (07) and (08) of this report, the Hon'ble Court may be pleased to permit the Official Liquidator to publish sale proclamation in "Times of India", English Script in Ahmedabad edition and in "Gujarat Samachar" & "Phulchaab" in Gujarati Script in Ahmedabad and Rajkot editions respectively with proposed sale schedule and also on website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs as well as High Court of Gujarat or in any such Newspapers as may be directed by this Hon'ble Court.
(D) In view of fact stated in para (04) of this report, whether this Hon'ble Court would be pleased to permit the Official Liquidator to initiate e-auction proceedings through M/s. e-procurement Technologies Ltd., as well as this Hon'ble Court may also be pleased to direct the Official Liquidator to place outcome of auction proceedings before this Hon'ble Court by way of filing fresh report after receipt of the report of e auction agency for confirmation of sale or otherwise.
(E) In view of facts stated in para (12) of this report, the Hon'ble Court may be pleased to permit the Official Liquidator to invite claim from secured creditors & workmen of the company in liquidation under Section 529 , 529A & 530 of the Companies Act, 1956 by publishing proclamation in "Economic Times", English Script, in Ahmedabad edition and in "Gujarat Samachar", Gujarati Script, in Rajkot edition editions and also on website of Ministry of Corporate Affairs as well as High Court of Gujarat or in any such Newspapers as may be directed by this Hon'ble Court.
(F) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to permit the Official Liquidator to appoint Chartered Accountants for verification and adjudication of claim of secured creditors & Workmen of the company in liquidation under Section 529, 529A & Page 2 of 5 C/OLR/33/2018 ORDER 530 of the Companies Act, 1956.
(G) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to permit the Official Liquidator to incur necessary advertisement expenses out of the fund available in the Company's A/c and make payment to Advertisement Agency on receipt of the bills.
(H) Such other and further orders and directions as may be considered just and appropriate by this Hon'ble Court may also be passed."
2. Learned advocate Mr.Jeet Bhatt appearing for the Official Liquidator submitted that as stated in the present report, earlier four attempts were made for sale of the company's properties, however, no bid was received from any intending purchaser and even in the 5th attempt for sale of the company's properties permitted by this Court, yet again no bid was received from any person. Mr.Bhatt submitted that on one hand, no bid was being received even when five attempts were made for the sale of the company's properties and on other hand, the security expenses and other liquidation charges have been mounting day by day and, therefore, the sale committee has unanimously proposed to reduce the upset price by 10% to 12% so as to attract and encourage the intending purchaser to come forward to purchase the company's properties. Mr.Bhatt has taken the Court to the contents of the present report as also the minutes of the meeting of the sale committee at Annexure-"B".
3. The Court, having heard learned advocate for the applicant and having considered the contents of the present report with the minutes of the meeting of the sale committee, finds that in the facts of the case, as considered by the sale committee, when in five Page 3 of 5 C/OLR/33/2018 ORDER attempts, nobody came forward to bid for the company's properties, the suggestion of sale committee to reduce the upset price so as to attract / encourage the prospective buyers to come forward to bid for the company's properties could be accepted and the Official Liquidator could be permitted to take further steps for the sale of the company's properties. The other prayers as regards inviting the claims from the secured creditors and the workers, for e-auction and to appoint Chartered Accountant etc. could also be granted.
3. In view of the above, it is ordered that as recommended by the sale committee, the upset price and EMD for the purpose of the sale of the company's properties shall be Rs.1,05,00,000/- and Rs.10,05,000/- respectively. The Official Liquidator shall publish the proclamation of the sale in "Times of India" in English Script in Ahmedabad Edition and in "Gujarat Samachar" and "Phulchaab" in Gujarati Script in Ahmedabad and Rajkot Editions respectively as also on the website of this Court and on Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The Official Liquidator is also permitted to initiate e-auction proceedings through M/s. E-procurement Technology Ltd. On completion of such e-auction proceedings, the Official Liquidator shall place the outcome of the e-auction proceedings before this Court by filing appropriate fresh report.
4. The sale programme for the sale of the company's properties shall be as under:
SALE SCHEDULE Date of Advertisement : 12/04/2018 Date of issuance of Tender forms : 13/04/2018 Date of inspection of properties : 16/04/2018 (between 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM) Page 4 of 5 C/OLR/33/2018 ORDER Last date of receipt of Offer/ : 30/04/2018 Tender Forms Auction/Inter-se-bidding in the : 04/05/2018 Hon'ble High Court of Gujarat, at Ahmedabad
5. The Official Liquidator is also permitted to invite claims from the secured creditors as also from the workers of the company in liquidation. For the purpose of incurring expenses for advertisement of sale of the company's properties and for inviting claims, the Official Liquidator is permitted to incur such advertisements expenses from the funds available in the company's account and is also permitted to appoint Chartered Accountant for verification and adjudication of the claims of the secured creditors and workers. The report stands disposed of accordingly.
(C.L. SONI, J) GUPTA* Page 5 of 5