Section 39A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949: Application of Companies Act to Liquidators

Section 39A forms part of the special winding-up framework for banking companies under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. It applies company-law provisions concerning liquidators to liquidators appointed under Section 38A or Section 39, so far as those provisions are not inconsistent with the Banking Regulation Act.

Banking Regulation Act, 1949 Section 39A Liquidator Winding up of banking companies
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Text of Section 39A

39A. Application of Companies Act to liquidators.

(1) All the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), relating to a liquidator, in so far as they are not inconsistent with this Act, shall apply to or in relation to a liquidator appointed under section 38A or section 39.

(2) Any reference to the "official liquidator" in this Part and Part IIIA shall be construed as including a reference to any liquidator of a banking company.

Meaning and effect of Section 39A

Section 39A is a coordinating provision. Its purpose is to apply the general company-law rules relating to liquidators to the special statutory regime for winding up banking companies, but only to the extent that those rules do not conflict with the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

The words "in so far as they are not inconsistent with this Act" are important. Where the Banking Regulation Act contains a special rule for a banking-company liquidation, that special rule governs. General company-law provisions operate only in a supplementary manner.

Sub-section (2) also broadens references to an "official liquidator" in Part III and Part IIIA of the Banking Regulation Act so that those references include any liquidator of a banking company.

Section 38A - Court Liquidator

Section 38A concerns the Court Liquidator in proceedings relating to the winding up of banking companies.

Section 39 - Reserve Bank to be official liquidator

Section 39 contains the special mechanism under which, in the circumstances stated in that section, the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India, another notified bank, or an individual specified in the application may be appointed as official liquidator of the banking company.

Current-law note: reference to the Companies Act, 1956

The enacted text of Section 39A continues to refer expressly to the Companies Act, 1956. The Companies Act, 1956 was repealed by Section 465 of the Companies Act, 2013, subject to statutory savings and transitional provisions. Accordingly, the historical wording of Section 39A should not be replaced in a bare-act reproduction. In an actual winding-up matter, the applicable company-law framework, savings, transition provisions, and any special banking-law provision should be checked for the facts and date of the proceeding.

Legislative history

Section 39A was inserted by the Banking Companies (Amendment) Act, 1959 (Act 33 of 1959), Section 28, with effect from 1 October 1959.

Practical reading of the provision

For legal research, Section 39A should ordinarily be read together with Section 37, Section 38, Section 38A, Section 39, and Section 40. These provisions together form part of the special statutory framework governing suspension of business, winding up, appointment of liquidators, and connected proceedings involving banking companies.

Updated: 13 September 2026. This page is intended for general legal information and should be read with the current statutory text, amendments, notifications, and applicable judicial decisions.