(8)
*INSOLVENCY LAW (AMENDMENT) BILL
The Minister of Law (Dr. Ambedkar): Sir, I move:
“That the Bill further to amend the law relating to insolvency, be taken into consideration.”
Sir, I should like to make a brief statement in order to enable the House to understand what exactly the Bill proposes to do. The law of Insolvency in India is contained in two different Acts: One is called the Provincial
4-00 P.M. Insolvency Act and the other is called the Presidency-towns Insolvency Act. The present Bill contains, apart from the short title, six clauses which make amendments in the existing insolvency law. The amending clauses in this Bill fall into two categories: some make changes in the Presidencytowns Insolvency Act and the other propose changes in the Provincial Insolvency Act. Those that make changes in the Provincial Insolvency Act are four ; they range from clauses 3 to 6 and there are two which relate to the Presidency-towns Insolvency Act.
Taking into consideration clause 2, all that clause 2 does is to remove a difficulty which has been felt for a long time. In the existing law as embodied in section 12 of the Presidencytowns Insolvency Act, it is said that an insolvency petition must be filed within three months from the occurrence of the event which is recognised as the justifiable ground for the presentation of the petition. It often happens that the period of three months comes to an end when the courts are closed. Under the law as it sands, the creditor loses the opportunity of presenting a petition merely because when the court re-opens, it is more than three months since the occurrence of the event. Courts, of course, have taken different
*Parliamentary Debates (Hereinafter called P.D.), Vol. 1, Part II, 3rd Feb.
1950, pp. 185-93.