1991 PLP 1520 (CLC)

Judicial Miscellaneous No.51 of 1990, decided on 27th January, 1991. ‑‑‑‑S.439 (6)‑‑‑Name of Company from Register removed‑‑‑Restoration of‑‑‑ Limitation‑‑‑Name of company was removed in 1981 from Register of Companies maintained by Joint Registrar‑‑‑Company filed in 1990 application for restoration of its name, but Joint Registrar took objection that same was time‑barred as application was filed beyond the period of three years from removal of its name from Register‑‑‑Action against company having been taken in period when Company Act, 1913 was in force which did not provide any period of limitation for filing such application, objection of Registrar was overruled and application for restoration of name of Company was granted accordingly. 1988 C L C 1538 ref. Abdul Aziz Munshi for Petitioner. The petitioner seeks restoration of the name of the Company to the Register of the Companies maintained by the Registrar, Joint Stock Companies. It may be pointed out that the name of the Company had been removed from the Register under section 247 of the Companies Act, 1913, vide order dated 31‑7‑1981 passed by the Registrar and published in the Gazette dated 23‑9‑1981. The main contention of Mr. Abdul Aziz Munshi, learned counsel for the petitioner, is that the order had been passed by the learned Registrar without notice to the petitioner, as required by subsections (2), (3) and (5) of section 247 of the Companies Act, 1913. The learned counsel states that this factual position, as stated by the petitioner, is more or less admitted as the same has not been denied in the written‑statement filed by Joint Registrar of the Companies, dated 25‑9‑1990. The learned counsel is right because without controverting the factual position, the only objection taken by the learned Joint Registrar is that the application is time‑barred, since the impugned action was taken on 31‑7‑1981 and the present petition has been filed on 12‑5‑1990. Reference has been made to section 439. (6) of the Companies Ordinance, 1984, which has now succeeded Companies Act, 1913, subsection (6) whereof provides a period of three years for making an application for restoration of the Company's name to the Register maintained by the Registrar. In this regard Mr. Abdul Aziz Munshi has invited my attention to a judgment of Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, J. (as he then was) in the case of M/s. Associated Electrical Enterprises Ltd. which is reported in 1988 C L C 1538, wherein a similar objection taken had been overruled on the ground that no period of limitation was provided by section 247 (G) of the Act under which the impugned action had then been taken. It is pertinent to point out that the facts of the present case and facts of the reported case are more or less identical. As I find myself in respectful agreement with the views expressed by Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui; J., I grant the application and order restoration of the name of the Company to the Register of the Companies, as prayed in the petition, w.e.f. 31‑7‑1981, the date on which it had been removed from the Registrar. Such direction may be sent to the Registrar, Joint Stock Companies, Karachi. H.B.T/A-1044/K Application granted.