9911796707
TMI Blog1964 (8) TMI 39X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Act, 1956, and section 45G of the Banking Companies Act, 1949, directing the public examination of nine officers of the bank. Six appeals were filed by the officers concerned against that order to an appellate bench of the High Court and these appeals were allowed. The liquidator has filed the present six appeals against the orders of the appellate bench. There were several other persons against whom orders were sought by the liquidator in that application but with them we are not concerned in these appeals. The application by the liquidator to the learned single judge on the face of it stated that it had been made under sections 478, 531, 538, 539 and 541 to 545 of the Companies Act and sections 45C 45H and 45J of the Banking Companies A ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ngle judge before whom the application had been moved made an order stating that it was not proper to make an application combining together so many different sections of the two Acts and directing that the application "be treated as a report under section 455(2) of the Companies Act and section 45G of the Banking Companies Act and the court liquidator will be at liberty to make separate applications for such other reliefs as he seeks." It does not appear from the record whether any such separate application had been made. The effect of the order was to confine the application to prayer (a) only and it was in terms of it that the impugned order was made. The only question argued at the bar was whether the order for public examination was v ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r for public examination. This judgment would appear to answer the question which the learned judges of the appellate bench intended to keep open. The effect of this decision on the present case will become clearer if the terms of the two sub-sections of section 45G are considered. Sub-ection (1) provides, " Where an order has been made for the winding up of a banking company, the official liquidator shall submit a report whether in his opinion any loss has been caused to the banking company since its formation by any act or omission (whether or not a fraud has been committed by such act or omission) of any person in the promotion or formation of the banking company or of any director or auditor of the banking company " (underlining is ours ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... section was not to consider any accusation of an offence. In so far as an application under that section contains allegations of the commission of an offence which are immaterial for the purpose of an order under it, such allegations cannot amount to accusations because they are idle and have no effect at all. It would follow that even if the application in the present case had contained allegations of the com mission of offences under sections 538, 539 and 541 of the Companies Act, as the appellate bench thought it did, that would not amount to an accusation within article 20(3). We, therefore, think that the view taken by the appellate bench was erroneous and cannot be supported. We should point out that the learned judges of that Bench ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion which we have earlier set out. It was said that that prayer amounted to an accusation as it asked the court to refer the matter under section 545 of the Companies Act for prosecuting the nine officers and also asked the court to take cognisance of and try in summary manner these officers under section 45J of the Banking Companies Act of certain offences. We are unable to accept this contention. First we think it extremely doubtful if the appellate bench was right in stating that the prayer (d) remained in the application in spite of the order of the learned single judge of June 13, 1958, to which we have earlier referred. It seems to us that the correct view to take is that as a result of that order a relief on the terms contained in p ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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