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TMI Blog1960 (8) TMI 40X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... for the sake of convenience "the mills ") were sold for a sum of Rs. 15,25,000, the highest bidder being the Davanagere Cotton Mills (hereinafter called "the purchasers"). One of the important conditions of the sale was that it was subject to the confirmation by the High Court, but the said court is not bound to accept the highest bid. Hence the question of confirmation of the sale came up for consideration before the honourable company judge, Sadasivayya J., who confirmed the said sale as per order dated July 15, 1960. The gravamen of the charge of the appellants is that the sale price is grossly inadequate far below the realisable value of the property put up for sale. In support of their contention they urge that the book value as indi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n respect of taxes, etc. Then there are the dues in respect of provident fund and wages due to the labourers etc. of the mills. If the amounts due to the above is deducted from the amount realised from the sale, there will be hardly any amount left to pay even a small part of the debts, to the unsecured creditors. In fact, if the sale is confirmed they will be hard hit. This is again another consideration for not confirming the highest bid at the sale. No adverse comment is made regarding the conduct of the sale. The appellants, however, content themselves by urging that the publication is not sufficient. No doubt publicity is given regarding the auction of the mills in nine newspapers and journals. Only one insertion is made in each of t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... aid court, as the State Government may, by notification published in the official gazette, from time to time direct. " It is, however, admitted by the learned counsel that the original jurisdiction in company matters has been exercised by a judge of this court sitting singly, but he contends that there is no notification of the State Government published in the official gazette empowering an appeal therefrom. This contention is without force. Under the Rules of this High Court as per clause (2) of rule 1 in Chapter III, "where any original jurisdiction conferred on the High Court by any law for the time being in force is exercised by a single judge of the High Court any appeal or other proceeding when allowed by any such law directed ag ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Cas. 227, 239. His Lordship Chagla CJ., delivering the judgmen, has stated as follows: "The first part of section 202 (section dealing with appeals under the old law) confers a substantive right upon a party aggrieved by an order made or a decision given by a company judge in winding up. The second part of section 202 does not in any way cut down or impair the substantive right already conferred by the first part of section 202. The second part which deals with the manner and the conditions in which an appeal may be preferred only refers to the procedural aspect of an appeal and the forum to which the appeal would lie." It is agreed by the appellants that they should meet the expenses to be incurred for conducting a fresh sale. It is ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... liquidation proceedings ; (2) the claims of the secured creditors. Taking into consideration all the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the view that the sale should be set aside and these appeals allowed. As regards costs, however, we order that under the circumstances of the case each party should bear their own costs of this appeal. Call for further orders on August 23, 1960. Hegde, J. I had the benefit of going through the order prepared by my learned brother. I agree with that order, but I would like to add a few words: In deciding whether the sale held should be confirmed or not, the primary consideration is whether the court is satisfied that the price fetched is adequate. This is also the view taken in the d ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Mysore) are interested in seeing that the bid does not go below the mark reached on the last occasion. I agree with my learned brother that the contention of Sri V. L. Narasimha Murthy, challenging the maintainability of the appeal is without force. Section 483 of the Indian Companies Act provides for an appeal against every order passed or decision made by the court in the exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction. The order under appeal is one such. The next question is how to implement the provision providing for an appeal. Section 13 of the Mysore High Court Act says that appeals against decrees, orders or sentences passed by a judge of the High Court, in the exercise of the original, civil and criminal jurisdiction conferred upon the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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