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Issues Involved:
1. Winding up of the respondent company u/s 433(e), (f) and 436 read with section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956. 2. Validity of e-mails as acknowledgements of debt under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963. Summary: Issue 1: Winding up of the respondent company u/s 433(e), (f) and 436 read with section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956. The petitioner, a licensed Custom House Agent and IATA accredited international freight forwarding agent, sought the winding up of the respondent company, engaged in manufacturing and distributing industrial machines, due to non-payment of debt amounting to Rs. 4,39,313/-. The petitioner provided services from September to November 2008 and raised invoices which remained unpaid. Despite multiple correspondences and assurances from the respondent to settle the dues, the payment was not made, leading to the filing of the winding-up petition. The court facilitated reconciliation of accounts, and the respondent admitted to owing Rs. 4,20,562/-, yet failed to make the payment. Consequently, the court admitted the petition and allowed the petitioner to advertise the hearing date. Issue 2: Validity of e-mails as acknowledgements of debt under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963. The respondent contended that the debt was time-barred and that the e-mails acknowledging the debt did not meet the criteria of Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963, as they were not signed. The court examined whether e-mails could constitute valid acknowledgements of debt. It was noted that Section 18 does not specify a particular form for acknowledgements and that the Information Technology Act, 2000 provides legal recognition for electronic records and communications. The court held that e-mails, being electronic records, satisfy the requirements of Section 18 when they indicate an admission of liability. The court concluded that the e-mails from the respondent to the petitioner constituted valid acknowledgements of debt, thus resetting the limitation period and making the debt recoverable. The court's decision emphasized the legal recognition of electronic communications and their equivalence to traditional paper-based documents in acknowledging debts.
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