Liquidation of pvt eye care centre assets extended till Oct 5

The Madras High Court today extended till October 5 the proceedings of liquidation of the assets of a private eye care centre at Delhi.
Justice Pushpa Sathanarayana, before whom the application filed by the company came up, recorded their undertaking that they would vacate the entire premises in Delhi by September 30. The company also sought time till October 5 to file the payment schedule.
"In view of the above, posted on October 5. The official liquidator is directed to hold on from taking charge of the assets of the company till then," the Judge said.
The HC had on September 16 directed the liquidator to desist from taking charge of the assets of the company till they filed the scheduled payment.

The matter relates to property taken on a nine-year lease in December 2010 by the eye care company at Pusa Road in Delhi on lease from January 2011 on a rent Rs 32 lakh per annum from private owners.
The company had given Rs 1.92 crore as security deposit. They conceded delaying rent payment for some months in the first three years of lease and that they had "intermittent cash crunch from early 2014."

The eye care centre had further said it was in not in a position to pay the rent and service tax on the due date from January, 2014 onwards.

Finding fault with the winding up proceedings initiated by the property owners, the company had informed the HC that the owners had the deposit money with them and it could have been adjusted for delay in payment of rentals.
They also contended that the owners had filed the winding up proceedings in the Madras HC when the proceedings were going on in a Delhi court.
Stating that the eye care centre was commercially solvent and so winding up proceedings were unnecessary, more so in view of the fact that it treated six million patients annually and that it had several thousand doctors and employees, the company sought dismissal of the case.

The court had on August 10 appointed an official liquidator to take charge of the company's assets. However, on their request, the order was put on hold on September 16.
Today the order was extended till October 5.