TMI Blog2001 (10) TMI 1069X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ennar Paterson Ltd. The Liquidator pursuant to the said order took over the assets of the company. It was found that a criminal complaint against the aforementioned company and its Director has been filed knowing that a provisional liquidator has been appointed in relation to the said company and without bringing on record the official liquidator. 4. The learned single Judge, having regard to the fact that this Court by an order dated 19-1-2001 held in Company Application No. 360 of 2000 that the expression other legal proceedings does not include prosecution relying on a decision of this Court in Nagarjuna Finance Ltd. v. Kanosia Laboratories Ltd. 1998 (4) ALT 563, and the ratio in three decisions cited viz., Khosla Fans (India) (P.) Ltd., In re [1983] 53 Comp. Cas. 858 (Punj. Har.), D.K. Kapur v. Reserve Bank of India [2001] 105 Comp. Cas. 643 and J. Burrows (Leeds) Ltd., In re [1982] 2 All ER 882 being contra thereto, referred the matter for an authoritative pronouncement on the question. 5. Mr. Adinarayana Rao, the learned counsel on behalf of the applicant would contend that the provisions contained in section 446 must be given widest interpretation. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e of the First Class of, as the case may be, a Presidency Magistrate, having jurisdiction to try such offence; Section 446 deals with the suits stayed on winding up order and it reads: "Suits stayed on winding up order. (1) When a winding up order has been made or the Official Liquidator has been appointed as provisional liquidator, no suit or other legal proceeding shall be commenced, or if pending at the date of the winding up order, shall be proceeded with, against the company, except by leave of the Court and subject to such terms as the Court may impose. (2) The Court which is winding up the company shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, have jurisdiction to entertain, or dispose of ( a )any suit or proceeding by or against the company; ( b )any claim made by or against the company (including claims by or against any of its branches in India); ( c )any application made under section 391 by or in respect of the company; ( d )any question of priorities or any other question whatsoever, whether of law or fact, which may relate to or arise in course of the winding up of the company; whether such suit or proceeding ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 12. In BSI Ltd. v. Gift Holdings (P.) Ltd. [2000] 2 SCC 737, the Apex Court held : "15. The fallacy of the above contention is two fold. First is that maintainability of prosecution proceedings is not to be tested on the touchstone of any practical hurdle in enforcing the sentence which might be imposed on a company after conviction. Second is, there is no insurmountable hurdle for recovery of the fine covered by the sentence even from a sick industrial company because the ban contained in section 22(1) is only conditional as could be discerned from the last limb thereof which reads thus : Except with the consent of the Board or, as the case may be, the Appellate Authority . It means that with such consent the court would be in a position to resort to proceedings for distress against the properties of the sick industrial company. Hence the aforesaid contention has no merit at all. (p. 743) It was clearly held that legal proceedings would not include a prosecution. In Nagarjuna Finance Ltd. s case ( supra ), a learned single Judge of this Court has clearly held : ". . . Looked at from any angle, I am of the view that for prosecuting pending criminal proceedings unde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... and 457, prosecution would not come within the purview thereof. It is now well settled principles of law that where different expressions have been used in different sections of the statute, the same should be given different meanings. 14. The words suit and other legal proceedings may be read ejusdem generis. Had the intention of the Legislature been to include prosecution within the expression other legal proceedings , there was no reason as to why it could have been said so. Although the heading of section is not relevant for construction of a statute, where the wordings of the section are clear, the same in the case of obscurity can be referred to for ascertaining the true meaning of the provision. 15. In Reserve Bank of India v. Peerless Co. 1987 (1) SCC 424 it was held: That interpretation is best which makes the textual interpretation match the contextual. A statute is best interpreted when we know why it was enacted. With this knowledge, the statute must be read, first as a whole and then section by section, clause by clause, phrase by phrase and word by word. If a statute is looked at, in the context of its enactment, with the glasses of the statute-make ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... legislature s defective phrasing of an Act, or add and mend, and, by construction, make up deficiencies which are there. Further more, in India the power of the Courts are considered having regard to the hierarchy thereof. In M.M. Thomas v. State of Kerala AIR 2000 SC 540, a reference is made to Halsbury s Laws of England (4th Edn. Vol. 10, para 713) as regards the jurisdiction of the Courts wherein it is stated thus : " The chief distinctions between superior and inferior courts are found in connection with jurisdiction. Prima facie , no matter is deemed to be beyond the jurisdiction of a superior court unless it is expressly shown to be so, while nothing is within the jurisdiction of an inferior court unless it is expressly shown on the face of the proceedings that the particular matter is within the cognizance of the particular court. An objection to the jurisdiction of one of the superior courts of general jurisdiction must show what other court has jurisdiction, so as to make it clear that the exercise by the superior court of its general jurisdiction is necessary. The High Court, for example, is a court of universal jurisdiction and superintendency in certain classe ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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