The Official Liquidator vs. No Respondent
Held
The Court held that it was appropriate to appoint the same Chartered Accountant firm, M/s. T. Badarinath & Associates, which had audited the accounts for the previous financial year, to audit the accounts for the period from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. The Court found the proposed audit fee of Rs. 40,000/- along with applicable GST to be reasonable. The application was ordered accordingly, permitting the Official Liquidator to pay the audit fee from the Estate and Establishment Fund Account and directing that the cost of the application and incidental expenses of auditing should also come out of the same fund. The Court did not expressly leave any issues undecided.
Facts
The Official Liquidator, attached to the High Court for the State of Telangana, filed a Company Application seeking to appoint an auditor for the Estate and Establishment Fund Account and the Company Paid Staff Terminal Benefit Fund Account for the financial period from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020. The application also sought to fix the audit fee at Rs. 40,000/- plus applicable GST and permit the payment of this fee from the Estate and Establishment Fund Account. The Court noted that the same auditor had been appointed for the preceding financial year (April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019) and had submitted their report. The application was supported by an affidavit from the Assistant Official Liquidator.
Key Issues
1. Whether the Court should appoint an auditor to audit the Estate and Establishment Fund Account and the Company Paid Staff Terminal Benefit Fund Account for the period from April 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020, as per Section 462 of the Companies Act, 1956, read with Rules 302, 309, and I of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959? 2. Whether the proposed audit fee of Rs. 40,000/- plus applicable GST is reasonable and should be approved for payment to the appointed auditor? Contentions: Petitioner (Official Liquidator): Argued for the appointment of an auditor for the specified period and sought approval for the audit fee, citing the contiguous nature of the audit period to the previous year's audit. Relied on the Companies Act, 1956, and the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959. Revenue/State: No specific arguments are recorded for the Revenue or State in the judgment.
Sections Cited
Section 462, Rule 302, Rule 309, Rule I
AI-generated summary — verify with the full judgment below
IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAO FRIDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF APRIL TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY ONE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE CHALLA KODANDA RAM COMPANY APPLrcATloN No. 2 0F 202r IN R.C.C. NO. 2 0F 1995 IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT. 1956 AND IN THE MATTER OF M/S. A.P. STEELS LTD AND VARIOUS COMPANIES ( IN LIQN)
Betwee n: The Official Liquidator, Attached to Hon'ble High Court for the State of Telangana and High Court of Andhra Pradesh, At Hyderabad. ...APPLICANT Company Application Under Section 462 of the Companies Act, 1956 read with Rules 302, 309 & I of the Companies ( Court ) Rules, 1959 praying that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to i.appoint the Auditor to audit the Estate and Establishment Fund A/c and Company Paid Staff Terminal Benefit Fund A/c for the period from 01-04-2019 to 31- 03-2020 from the panel of Chartered Accountant as mentioned in Para No.4 of the present application or any other Chartered Accountants as mentioned in other paras may be ordered by this Hon'ble Court. ii.fix an amount of Rs.40,000/- and GST thereon (as applicable )or any other amount towards audit fee payable to the Auditor, so appointed by this Hon'ble
The judgment continues below.
Read the full judgment
A free account opens 10 full GST judgments a month (one account works on both bharattax.net and this site). Re-reading one you have already opened does not count again.
The summary, the parties, the sections and the citations above are open to everyone and always will be. Only the text of the order and the PDF are metered.
Reproduced from the public record of the Telangana High Court. Verify against the court's own copy before relying on it. Income tax judgments are on bharattax.net.