Authority: National Company Law Tribunal, Indore Bench (Court No. 1)

Order Date: 11 June 2026

Case Overview

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Indore Bench, comprising Hon'ble Shri Brajendra Mani Tripathi (Member Judicial) and Hon'ble Shri Man Mohan Gupta (Member Technical), heard a company appeal filed under Section 252(3) of the Companies Act, 2013 by Arun Dagaria, a shareholder of Space City Homes Private Limited, against the Registrar of Companies (ROC), Gwalior. The appeal sought restoration of the company's name to the Register of Companies after it was struck off on 12 April 2022 for non-filing of statutory returns from FY2019 onwards. The ROC had issued a notice under Sections 560(5)/248(1) on 22 January 2022 citing non-compliance with filing requirements. The company was incorporated on 10 July 2008 (CIN: U45201MP2008PTC020900) and had last filed its Annual Return up to 24 September 2018 and Balance Sheet as of 31 March 2018.

The applicant, holding 100 equity shares (0.1% stake), argued that the company was a going concern with active operations, as evidenced by financial data for FY2022-2024 showing trade payables (Rs. 20.99 lakh to Rs. 31.35 lakh), inventories (Rs. 27.70 lakh to Rs. 27.17 lakh), revenue from operations (Rs. 6.78 lakh to Rs. 6.11 lakh), and employee benefit expenses (Rs. 2.82 lakh to Rs. 3.36 lakh). The company also owned land at Kailodhala Village, Indore (0.608 hectares, Survey No. 287/1/3). The applicant contended that the ROC should have pursued alternate remedies like registering the company as dormant or initiating penal actions instead of striking off the name.

The ROC, in its report dated 26 September 2025, confirmed the strike-off and publication in the Official Gazette on 16 April 2022 but noted the appeal was within the 20-year limitation period. It requested conditions for restoration, including filing overdue returns, publishing the order, depositing publication costs, and declaring no asset disposals. The Income Tax Department reported outstanding demands of Rs. 60,56,400 for AY2009-10 (under Section 143(3)) and Rs. 300 for AY2019-20 (under Section 143(1)(a)). The applicant filed an appeal with the ITAT, Indore (Acknowledgement No. 1800035488) against the larger demand and undertook to pay both amounts post-restoration.

The Tribunal found the applicant had locus standi as a shareholder under Section 252(3), the appeal was within limitation, and restoration was in the interest of stakeholders and revenue authorities to resolve pending tax matters. No management disputes or asset disposals were reported post-strike-off.

Final Outcome

The NCLT allowed the appeal and directed the ROC, Gwalior, to restore the company's name and change its status to 'Active' on the MCA portal. The applicant must: (1) publish the order in one English (nationwide) and one Hindi (Madhya Pradesh) newspaper within 30 days; (2) deposit the Official Gazette publication cost with the Pay and Accounts Officer, Mumbai; (3) file all overdue statutory returns within 60 days of restoration; (4) pay a cost of Rs. 50,000 to the Consolidated Fund of India via Bharat Kosh within 30 days (proof to be submitted to ROC); and (5) comply with undertakings regarding tax payments. Restoration places the company and all persons in the same position as if the name had never been struck off.

Topics: Company Restoration, NCLT Order, Statutory Compliance