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TMI Blog2015 (11) TMI 1905X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ication has been moved under Rule 9 of the Companies (Court) Rules, 1959 on behalf of some of the employees of the company in liquidation praying for directions to the Official Liquidator to apply to the concerned Commissioner, Provident Fund, for releasing provident fund dues of the applicants who claim to be the workers of the company in liquidation. Counsel for the applicants, inter alia, relies on a decision of the Bombay High Court in Vishwanath Namdeo Patil v. Official Liquidator of Swadeshi Mills, (2014) 1 Comp. LJ 130 (Bom). After examining the relevant facts and circumstances in that case, the Bombay High Court had issued certain directions to the Official Liquidator. Be that as it may, at least, to my mind, the nature of directio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... same whenever required. In this context, the Commissioner, Provident Fund, is also duty bound under the statute to raise appropriate demands on the company in case it becomes necessary to do so. Counsel for the applicants has not been able to demonstrate anything in law, or in fact, that circumvents this procedure; or, in any way, reorders the respective obligations of the company concerned or of the Commissioner, Provident Fund, merely because the company has gone under administration. The only change in circumstances that has come about is that the company has been placed under administration to ensure that its assets are not misapplied, or diluted to the detriment of the creditors and shareholders and that, all aspects are managed in an ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the Official Liquidator is examining the claim of the workers". To my mind, counsel for the applicant has really failed to grasp the true nature of the liquidation process. While it is true that any claim that is preferred has to be examined on its merits by the Liquidator, however, after due examination, the Liquidator is obliged to admit only those claims which represent amounts that the company was obliged to pay directly to the workmen in the first place. Any claim with regard to the Provident Fund dues can only lie before the Commissioner, Provident Fund, under the relevant statute. Consequently, whilst other claims for any unpaid wages etc. may well be admitted by the Official Liquidator, however, any claims raised directly to the Off ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... repetition that in the context of the matter at hand, there is no difference between a company under administration and a company under independent management. It remains a listed company as a legal entity; and whatever is required to be done in terms of the EPF Act and Rules by the Commissioner, Provident Fund, has to be done regardless of who is managing the company. Counsel then responds by stating that since the Official Liquidator had invited claims, therefore, the applicants had placed their claims for their provident funds also before the Official Liquidator. To my mind, the approach of the applicants is clearly wrongheaded. The invitation of claims by the Liquidator of a company can only be limited to such claims that can legitimate ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... approach adopted, including the complete lack of any effort on the part of counsel for the applicants to deal with queries put and the propositions raised by this Court; I am not inclined to go into that judgment at all, and to grant any relief on that basis to the applicants. At this juncture, I might also note that Sh. Deepak Prakash and Ms. Shruti Srivastva, Advocates, have also entered appearance on behalf of DCM Daewoo Employees Union (Registered) in the main matter as well as some other applications; and on a query put to them, state that their client is the only registered union of the company in liquidation, duly authorized to represent all the employees. Mr. Deepak Prakash, Advocate, also states that as regards workers' dues, the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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