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Section 288: Submission of periodical reports to Tribunal

Companies Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 2013
Section 287 All 470 Sections of Companies Act Section 289
Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)
Company Sec 2(20) Director Sec 2(34) Tribunal Sec 2(90)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 288

Section 288 of the Companies Act, 2013 obligates the Company Liquidator to submit periodical reports—mandatorily at the conclusion of each quarter—detailing winding-up progress, empowering the Tribunal to review, vary, or modify its previous directions.

  • Quarterly Mandatory Reporting: The Company Liquidator must submit periodical progress reports to the Tribunal, with a mandatory statutory report at the end of each financial quarter, in the prescribed form.
  • Comprehensive Operational Progress: The periodical report must set forth all asset realizations, legal proceedings instituted or defended, expenses incurred, and the anticipated timeline for concluding the liquidation.
  • Judicial Power of Dynamic Modification: The Tribunal is expressly empowered, either suo motu or upon an application by the liquidator, to review any order previously made and introduce such modifications as it deems just and proper.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Official Liquidator v. Ram Swarup, (1997) 90 Comp Cas 358 (All): The High Court emphasized that the submission of quarterly progress reports is a vital instrument of judicial control designed to prevent liquidations from languishing in administrative inertia.
  • Re: Great Eastern Electric Co. Ltd., [1941] Ch 241: The court affirmed that quarterly financial accounts and progress filings filed by the liquidator are essential for establishing the bona fides of ongoing commercial operations and protective asset disbursements.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

If a liquidator encounters unexpected practical bottlenecks (such as municipal attachment of properties or unresolved revenue liens), he should utilize the quarterly Section 288 report to formally apprise the NCLT of the impediment and simultaneously seek modification of previous timeline orders under Section 288(2).

Section 287 All 470 Sections of Companies Act Section 289