1. Subject to the provisions of this section, a petition to the Tribunal for the winding up of a company shall be presented by—
a. the company;
b. any creditor or creditors, including any contingent or prospective creditor or creditors;
c. any contributory or contributories;
d. all or any of the persons specified in clauses (a ), (b ) and (c ) together;
e. the Registrar;
f. any person authorised by the Central Government in that behalf; or
g. in a case falling under clause (c ) of sub-section (1 ) of section 271, by the Central Government or a State Government.
2. A secured creditor, the holder of any debentures, whether or not any trustee or trustees have been appointed in respect of such and other like debentures, and the trustee for the holders of debentures shall be deemed to be creditors within the meaning of clause (b ) of sub-section (1 ).
3. A contributory shall be entitled to present a petition for the winding up of a company, notwithstanding that he may be the holder of fully paid-up shares, or that the company may have no assets at all or may have no surplus assets left for distribution among the shareholders after the satisfaction of its liabilities, and shares in respect of which he is a contributory or some of them were either originally allotted to him or have been held by him, and registered in his name, for at least six months during the eighteen months immediately before the commencement of the winding up or have devolved on him through the death of a former holder.
4. The Registrar shall be entitled to present a petition for winding up under subsection (1 ) on any of the grounds specified in sub-section (1 ) of section 271, except on the grounds specified in clause (b ), clause (d ) or clause (g ) of that sub-section:
Provided that: the Registrar shall not present a petition on the ground that the company is unable to pay its debts unless it appears to him either from the financial condition of the company as disclosed in its balance sheet or from the report of an inspector appointed under section 210 that the company is unable to pay its debts:
Provided further that: the Registrar shall obtain the previous sanction of the Central Government to the presentation of a petition:
Provided also that the Central Government shall not accord its sanction unless the company has been given a reasonable opportunity of making representations.
5. A petition presented by the company for winding up before the Tribunal shall be admitted only if accompanied by a statement of affairs in such form and in such manner as may be prescribed.
6. Before a petition for winding up of a company presented by a contingent or prospective creditor is admitted, the leave of the Tribunal shall be obtained for the admission of the petition and such leave shall not be granted, unless in the opinion of the Tribunal there is a prima facie case for the winding up of the company and until such security for costs has been given as the Tribunal thinks reasonable.
7. A copy of the petition made under this section shall also be filed with the Registrar and the Registrar shall, without prejudice to any other provisions, submit his views to the Tribunal within sixty days of receipt of such petition.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 272
Section 272 governs legal standing (locus standi) to present a winding-up petition before the National Company Law Tribunal, specifying mandatory prior sanctions for Registrar petitions.
This statutory framework establishes clear operational guidelines, balancing legal compliance with procedural safeguards.
Section 272 establishes strict gatekeeping to prevent malicious winding up petitions. A petition filed by the Registrar without prior Central Government sanction is void ab initio. Furthermore, under Section 272(4), a copy of every petition presented by any person must be served on the Registrar, who submits written observations to the NCLT before admission.