TMI Blog1963 (1) TMI 28X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lution was confirmed as required by section 17. Under section 18, sub-section (3), of the Companies Act, certified copy of the order confirming the alteration of the registered office of the company to Delhi was required to be filed both with the Registrars of Companies in Punjab and Delhi, within a period of three months from the date when the resolution was confirmed by this court. The last date for filing the certified copy with the respective Registrars was 24th November, 1961, after taking into account the days required for obtaining the certified copies. The certified copies were sent actually on 6th March, 1962, by the company, about 3 months after expiry of the time allowed by section 18, sub-section (1). in the petition it is stated that the delay in the submission of the certified copies was due to inadvertence as the copies had been misplaced by the office assistant. The Registrar of Companies at Delhi drew the attention of the company to section 18 of the Companies Act and pointed out that the order of the curt had not been filed in his office within the prescribed time and, therefore, the order had to be deemed as void. He, however, suggested that the company would be ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... alteration, or within such further time as may be allowed by the court under sub-section (4) of section 18, such alteration and order and all proceedings connected therewith shall, at the expiry of such period of three months or of such further time, as the case may be, become void : Provided that the court may, on sufficient cause shown, revive the order on application made within a further period of one month." If sub-section (4) is read in isolation it appears to confer a plenary power upon the court to exercise its jurisdiction for extending the time for the filing of documents or for the registration of the alteration, "at any time". The words "at any time" are of wide amplitude and read without reference to the context, admit of no limitation. The phrase has several commutations and a great variety of meanings. The phrase "at any time" has sometimes been construed "within reasonable time", "after a certain time", "after the fulfilment of a certain condition", or "subject to the restrictions in the Act", "at all times", "at any one time", or "from time to time". Having regard to the context the meanings range from immediacy to perpetuity. If the phrase is to be construed l ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t there can be no extension when a period already fixed has come to an end in view of what is implied by the term 'extension' is not of any significance when it is not disputed that extension can be made after the expiry of the period in cases where the provision authorising the making of orders extending certain periods uses an expression that such orders could be passed before or after the expiry of the earlier period. Such an expression only makes it clear that the order of extension can be passed at any time, but cannot give a different meaning to the word 'extension'. The argument, therefore, for the petitioner based on the implications of the word 'extension' to the effect that only what exists can be extended is not sufficient for arriving at the conclusion that the orders about extension must be passed prior to the expiry of the earlier period. The provision in clause 16 is in most general terms. It does not limit the power of the Governor to order the extension within the period to be extended, but empowers him to extend the period from time to time. In the absence of any such limitation, we are not prepared to narrow down the interpretation of this provision and to hold t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... strong for me to grapple, a great public injury would be effected by calling back a right that, by lapse of time, had become extinct. There is also a decision of the Supreme Court not cited at the Bar but referred in Strawboard Manufacturing Co. Ltd. v. Gutta Mill Workers' Union [1953] SCR 439; AIR 1953 SC 95, where it was held that the State Government has not the power to extend the time for making an award ex post facto, i.e. , after the time limit originally fixed therefor has expired. Section 14, U.P. General Clauses Act, does not, in terms, or by necessary implication, give any such power of extension of time nor can any support be derived from section 21 of that Act to validate the award passed after the expiry of the time originally fixed, though the order giving extension ex facie purports to modify the original order fixing the time limit. One characteristic feature of all these decisions is that the expressions which the courts are called upon to construe were being examined in the light of the context and the words and phrases were being interpreted in the background of the statute as a whole. Words and phrase used in one section ought to be examined not in their ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... a certified copy in the first instance must be filed within three months from the date of the order. If extension of time for filing of the documents is to be sought then the court must be moved within three months before the order becomes void and inoperative. Once it is so moved within limitation, it may "at any time", by order, extend the time for the filing of documents. If this has also been not done then on sufficient cause being shown the court may revive the order if an application has been made within a month. The period of one month in this case commenced from the date of the order becoming void and inoperative. This is "a further period" which is added to the three months allowed under section 18, sub-section (1). The use of the word "revive" in the proviso to section 19, sub-section (2), in contradistinction with the word "extend" occurring in section 18, sub-section (4), is significant. "Revive" brings back to life what has become moribund. It is synonym to re-enact or re-animate a matter which has become void and inoperative in law, revitalize what was in a state of animation by force of the statute, restore or brought back to life. The use of the word "extend" i ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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