1. The Company Liquidator shall maintain proper and regular books of account including accounts of receipts and payments made by him in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
2. The Company Liquidator shall, at such times as may be prescribed but not less than twice in each year during his tenure of office, present to the Tribunal an account of the receipts and payments as such liquidator in the prescribed form in duplicate, which shall be verified by a declaration in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
3. The Tribunal shall cause the accounts to be audited in such manner as it thinks fit, and for the purpose of the audit, the Company Liquidator shall furnish to the Tribunal with such vouchers and information as the Tribunal may require, and the Tribunal may, at any time, require the production of, and inspect, any books of account kept by the Company Liquidator.
4. When the accounts of the company have been audited, one copy thereof shall be filed by the Company Liquidator with the Tribunal, and the other copy shall be delivered to the Registrar which shall be open to inspection by any creditor, contributory or person interested.
5. Where an account referred to in sub-section (4 ) relates to a Government company, the Company Liquidator shall forward a copy thereof—
a. to the Central Government, if that Government is a member of the Government company; or
b. to any State Government, if that Government is a member of the Government company; or
c. to the Central Government and any State Government, if both the Governments are members of the Government company.
6. The Company Liquidator shall cause the accounts when audited, or a summary thereof, to be printed, and shall send a printed copy of the accounts or summary thereof by post to every creditor and every contributory:
Provided that: the Tribunal may dispense with the compliance of the provisions of this sub-section in any case it deems fit.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 294
Section 294 of the Companies Act, 2013 prescribes the mandatory semi-annual audit of the Company Liquidator's accounts of receipts and payments, requiring verified filing before the Tribunal and Registrar and providing for public inspection.
The liquidator must reconcile all bank accounts maintained in the Public Account of India or authorized schedule banks every month. Upon preparing the biannual receipts and payments account, counsel should file an application before the NCLT for the appointment of an independent chartered accountant to conduct the Section 294 statutory audit, securing formal judicial discharge for the audited period.