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Issues Involved:
1. Maintainability of the winding-up petition by an unregistered partnership firm. 2. Grant of interest on the sum claimed by the petitioning creditor. 3. Validity of the winding-up petition filed by a constituted attorney without the court's permission. Issue-wise Detailed Analysis: 1. Maintainability of the winding-up petition by an unregistered partnership firm: The primary issue was whether an unregistered partnership firm could file a winding-up petition under the Companies Act. The respondent argued that under Section 69(2) of the Partnership Act, 1932, the petition was not maintainable as the firm was unregistered. The court examined the provisions of Section 433 and Section 439 of the Companies Act, which outline the circumstances and entities eligible to file for winding up. It was determined that Section 439(1)(b) allows "any creditor" to file a petition, which includes unregistered firms. The court also analyzed Section 69 of the Partnership Act, concluding that the restriction on unregistered firms filing suits to enforce contractual rights did not apply to statutory rights under the Companies Act. The court emphasized that winding-up proceedings are statutory and public in nature, not merely contractual disputes. Consequently, the court held that the winding-up petition by the unregistered partnership firm was maintainable. 2. Grant of interest on the sum claimed by the petitioning creditor: The petitioning creditor sought interest at 21% per annum on the claimed amount. The learned company judge had denied this interest due to a lack of evidence supporting the claim. The court noted that the only document provided was an unsigned and unauthenticated statement annexed to the petition. Given the absence of credible evidence, the court upheld the company judge's decision to refuse the interest claim. The court found no reason to overturn this finding, affirming that the document provided did not meet the necessary evidentiary standards. 3. Validity of the winding-up petition filed by a constituted attorney without the court's permission: The respondent contended that the winding-up petition was invalid as it was filed by a constituted attorney without the court's permission, citing a decision from the Bombay High Court. However, the court found that the company judge had indeed granted leave to the constituted attorney to proceed with the winding-up application. This factual finding was not challenged by the respondent through an appeal. The appellate court, therefore, declined to entertain this objection, emphasizing that it was not appropriate to revisit this issue in the absence of an appeal from the respondent. Conclusion: The court dismissed the appeal, affirming the company judge's order. The winding-up petition by the unregistered partnership firm was deemed maintainable, the refusal to grant interest was upheld due to insufficient evidence, and the objection regarding the constituted attorney's filing was rejected. The application for interim relief was disposed of as infructuous, and no order was made as to costs.
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