NCLT New Delhi Restores Struck-Off Company Only To Recover ₹7.62 Crore In Tax Dues

The National Company Law Tribunal at New Delhi has recently restored the name of SL Contractors Private Limited in the Register of Companies only to allow the Income Tax Department to recover Rs 7.26 crores in outstanding dues, while rejecting the company's claim that it had been operational when it was struck off. A coram of Judicial Member Ashok Kumar Bhardwaj and Technical Member Reena Sinha Puri said “the Appellant has failed to establish that the Company was carrying on business or was in operation at the time of strike-off.” The tribunal said the company had not filed any statutory documents for several years and had produced unaudited financial statements that could not be verified. Although the directors sought full restoration and attributed their non-compliance to the sudden death of their compliance professional, the tribunal said these explanations did not justify years of filing lapses. The company was incorporated in 2014 and was struck off in 2019 after failing to file annual returns beyond the financial year 2015 to 2016. The Registrar of Companies opposed restoration and pointed out that the company had shown nil revenue in recent years and had not made any effort to regularise filings even after the strike-off. The tribunal accepted this position and recorded that the company “remained non compliant, even up to the date of the present appeal” and had furnished “unaudited and unverifiable financial statements for later years.” What ultimately led to restoration was the Income Tax Department's report that SL Contractors faced outstanding tax demands, including Rs 7.62 crore under Section 147 and a penalty of Rs 10 thousand with further proceedings pending. The tribunal said that “While we do not find sufficient grounds at the behest of the Appellants to order restoration of the Company's name, in view of the report furnished by the Income Tax Department, restoration becomes necessary to enable the Department to pursue recovery of outstanding dues.” It added that “the outstanding demand by Income Tax Department is a sufficient ground to restore a company in the Register of Companies.” The tribunal allowed the appeal but only on strict conditions. These include payment of Rs 9 lakh to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, clearing all outstanding tax liabilities and filing all pending statutory documents within 45 days of restoration. It also clarified that the order does not prevent the Registrar from taking action for any other violations. Case Title: SL Contractors Private Limited & Ors. V. Registrar of Companies & Anr. Case Number: Company Appeal No. 174/252/ND/2024 For Appellant: Advocates Aayushmaan Vatsyayana, Vansh Pandey, and Gourav. For Respondent: Senior Standing Counsel Puneet Rai, with Junior Standing Counsels Rishabh Nangia, Ashwini Kumar and Advocate Nikhil Jain for Income Tax Department.Click Here To Read/Download Order

NCLT New Delhi Restores Struck-Off Company Only To Recover ₹7.62 Crore In Tax Dues

Shivangi Bhardwaj

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