M/S. Dcl Finance Limited(In Prov. Liqn) vs. No Respondent

Facts

The Official Liquidator, attached to the High Court for the State of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, filed a Company Application (No. 61 of 2025) under Section 462 of the Companies Act, 1956, read with Rules 298 and 306 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959. The application sought to take on record the half-yearly accounts of M/s. DCL Finance Limited (in provisional liquidation) for the period from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. It also requested permission to make a payment of Rs. 500/- plus GST as audit fee to the independent auditors, M/s. Padmanabha Rao & Co., Chartered Accountants, whose report was dated December 13, 2024, and submitted on December 16, 2024. The application further prayed for the costs of the application to be met from the company's available funds or the Estate and Establishment Fund.

Held

The Court, after perusing the auditor's report dated December 13, 2024, with the assistance of the counsel for the Official Liquidator, and being satisfied with it, ordered that the application be allowed. The Court took the half-yearly accounts of M/s. DCL Finance Limited (in provisional liquidation) for the period from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, along with the auditor's report, on record. Furthermore, permission was accorded to the Official Liquidator to make the payment of the audit fee of Rs. 500/- plus GST to the auditor. The costs of the application were directed to be met from the available funds of the company in liquidation. The Court also stated that there would be no order as to costs. Any pending miscellaneous petitions in the Company Application were ordered to stand closed.

Key Issues

1. Whether the half-yearly accounts of M/s. DCL Finance Limited (in provisional liquidation) for the period from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, along with the Independent Auditors' Report dated December 13, 2024, should be taken on record, as prayed by the Official Liquidator under Section 462 of the Companies Act, 1956, read with Rules 298 and 306 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959? 2. Whether permission should be granted to the Official Liquidator to make the payment of audit fee of Rs. 500/- plus GST to the auditors, M/s. Padmanabha Rao & Co., Chartered Accountants? Petitioner's Arguments: The Official Liquidator, through their counsel, argued for the acceptance of the half-yearly accounts and the auditor's report, and for permission to pay the audit fee. No specific statutory provisions or precedents were cited in the judgment for the petitioner's arguments, beyond the procedural sections under which the application was filed. Revenue's Arguments: The judgment does not record any arguments presented by the revenue or state.