Gujarat High Court
Official Liquiditor Of M/S. Suvin ... vs Manager(Legal) on 3 August, 2018
Author: R.M.Chhaya
Bench: R.M.Chhaya
C/OLR/66/2018 ORDER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/OFFICIAL LIQUDATOR REPORT NO. 66 of 2018
In OFFICIAL LIQUDATOR REPORT NO. 33 of 2018
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OFFICIAL LIQUIDITOR OF M/S. SUVIN CEMENT PVT. LTD.(IN LIQN)
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
MR AS ASTHAVADI(3698) for the RESPONDENT(s) No. 1
NOTICE SERVED BY DS(5) for the RESPONDENT(s) No. 2,3
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.M.CHHAYA
Date : 03/08/2018
ORAL ORDER
By this Official Liquidator Report, the Official Liquidator has prayed for the following reliefs:
"9(A) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to take on records that the Official Liquidator has not received any offer from the intending purchasers till last date of receipt of tenders i.e. 30.04.2018 pursuant to the sale proclamation dated 12.04.2018 published in Newspaper.
9(B) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to take on records that in compliance of order dated 09.04.2018 passed in OLR No.33 of 2018, the Official Liquidator has published advertisement of invitation of claim under Section 529, 529A & 530 of the Companies Act, 1956 in Newspapers.Page 1 of 6 C/OLR/66/2018 ORDER
9(C) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to permit the Official Liquidator to carry out fresh valuation of the all assets and properties of the company in liquidation by appointing panel Valuer of the Office of the Official Liquidator.
9(D) This Hon'ble Court may be pleased to permit the Official Liquidator to place a Valuation Report before members of the sale committee to discuss and decide the further course of action for sale of assets and properties of the company in liquidation and also direct the Official Liquidator to place outcome of the meeting before this Hon'ble Court for kind consideration.
9(E) Such other and further orders and directions as may be considered just and appropriate may also be passed."
Heard Mr. Jeet Bhatt, learned advocate for the applicant and Mr. A. S. Asthavadi, learned advocate for respondent no.1. Though served, no one appears for other respondents.
Learned advocates appearing for the parties have taken this Court through the factual scenario arising out of this report.
The company named M/s. Suvin Cements Pvt. Ltd. was ordered to be wound up by this Court vide order dated 25/01/2006 passed in Company Petition No.415 of 1997. The Official Liquidator attached to this Court wrote a letter to the Page 2 of 6 C/OLR/66/2018 ORDER company in liquidation for taking possession of the movable as well as immovable properties of the company in liquidation.
Suffice it to note that thereafter the Official Liquidator filed a report being Official Liquidator Report No.33 of 2018 which was allowed by this Court (Coram:C. L. Soni, J.) vide order dated 09/04/2018 wherein it is observed as under:
"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 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"Page 3 of 6 C/OLR/66/2018 ORDER
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) 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 Page 4 of 6 C/OLR/66/2018 ORDER 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."
The record indicates that as per the aforesaid order, the advertisement was published in Gujarati daily being "Gujarat Samachar and "Phulchhab" in Ahmedabad and Rajkot edition and in "Times of India" in Ahmedabad edition.
The record indicates that sale proclamation was published on the website of this Court and in the website of the Ministry of the Corporate Affairs. The Official Liquidator has contended that four intending purchasers also took physical inspection of property. However, till last date as provided in the advertisement i.e. 30/04/2018, no one purchased the tender documents of sale. As averred by the Official Liquidator, even earlier in the year 2015 and in the year 2017 and the present attempt i.e. in all three attempts have been made for sale and disposal of the property of the company in liquidation, however, all the three attempts have yielded no result.
As such in the advertisement wide publicity has been given by the Official Liquidator as provided in order dated 09/04/2018 in Official Liquidator Report No.33 of 2018. Still, Page 5 of 6 C/OLR/66/2018 ORDER however, no offer has been received.
In the aforesaid circumstances, therefore, the report deserves to be accepted. Accordingly, the present report is accepted in terms of para-9A to 9D.
(R.M.CHHAYA, J) ila Page 6 of 6