Operational Creditor in the instant case was one of 9930 companies’ names of which were struck off the Register of Companies by the Registrar of Companies, Pune vide Public Notice No. ROCP/STK-7/ 248(5)/2017/PUB/1 dated 11.07.2017 and the said Companies were dissolved. It is observed that the name of the Operational Creditor appears at S.No.446 of the list of struck-off companies (Table ‘A’). It is well-settled that the company is a separate legal entity distinct from its shareholder or promoter-Director. Once a company has been struck off the register of companies, it no longer exists as a legal entity. The verification certificate at the end of the Application (Form 5) having been signed by Shri Amol Ashok Dalvi as someone “authorised to act on behalf of the Operational Creditor” is thus found to be of no consequence. The Operational Creditor having been dissolved on 11.07.2017 itself, there is no entity/person who could have authorised anyone for filing of instant CP on 21.12.2021. There can be no question of ratification of an action which a non-existent entity could not have initiated in the first instance. The present Application could not have been filed unless the name of the Operational Creditor was first restored in the register of companies by following the procedure laid down in Section 252 of the Companies Act, 2013. In these circumstances, the present Application is lacking any legal validity and is not maintainable at all, thus, liable to be dismissed on this ground alone.
