The Delhi High Court has allowed the transfer of a winding-up petition regarding an Indian charter airline to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) without a formal application.
Consultancy firm Cowi India Private Limited (Cowi) had filed a petition under the Companies Act, 1956, seeking the winding up of Indian charter airlines Pinnacle Air Private Limited (Pinnacle) on the grounds of its inability to pay the debts.
Pinnacle sought a transfer of the matter to the NCLT Delhi.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Amit Mahajan transferred Pinnacle’s plea to the Delhi Bench of NCLT on the grounds that no substantive proceedings had been undertaken towards the winding up of the company.
The issue before the High Court was whether it could permit the transfer of the winding-up petition pending before itself to the NCLT without a formal application seeking such prayer.
The Counsel appearing for Cowi submitted that a formal application was necessary for such a transfer. Pinnacle, on the other hand, contended that there was no bar on the High Court to transfer a matter to NCLT without a formal application.
The High Court noted that Pinnacle’s written submissions could be treated as an application seeking transfer and no separate application needed to be filed.
The Court was not bound to insist on a separate application when the intent of the party seeking transfer was evident from the record, it added.