"Non-filing of particulars of a charge shall be void against the company as a going concern" - Examine this statement in light of the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013.

According to Section 77 of the Companies Act, 2013, notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, no charge created by a company shall be taken into account by the liquidator [appointed under this Act or the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016] or any other creditor unless it is duly registered under sub-section (1) and a certificate of registration of such charge is given by the Registrar under sub-section (2). In the case of ONGC Ltd v. Official Liquidators of Ambica Mills Co Ltd (2006) 132 Comp Cas 606 (Guj), the ONGC had not been able to point out whether the so called charge, on the basis of which it was claiming preference as a secured creditor, was registered or not. It was held that in the light of this failure, ONGC could not be treated as a secured creditor in view of specific provisions of section 125 and the statutory requirement under the said section. This does not, however, mean that the charge is altogether void and the debt is not recoverable. So long as the company does not go into liquidation, the charge is good and may be enforced. Void against the liquidator means that the liquidator on winding up of the company can ignore the charge and can treat the concerned creditor as unsecured creditor. The property will be treated as free of charge i.e. the creditor cannot sell the property to recover its dues. Void against any creditor of the company means that if any subsequent charge is created on the same property and the earlier charge is not registered, the earlier charge would have no consequence and the latter charge if registered would enjoy priority. In other words, the latter charge holder can have the property sold in order to recover its money. Thus, non-filing of particulars of a charge does not invalidate the charge against the company as a going concern. It is void only against the liquidator and the creditors at the time of liquidation. The company itself cannot have a cause of action arising out of non-registration. Hence, the statement is not correct.