n re Rolls Razor Ltd. (No. 2): ChD 1970

Megarry J said: ‘The process under section 268 is needed because of the difficulty in which the liquidator in an insolvent company is necessarily placed. He usually comes as a stranger to the affairs of a company which has sunk to its financial doom. In that process, it may well be that some of those concerned in the management of the company, and others as well, have been guilty of some misconduct or impropriety which is of relevance to the liquidation. Even those who are wholly innocent of any wrongdoing may have motives for concealing what was done. In any case, there are almost certain to be many transactions which are difficult to discover or to understand merely from the books and papers of the company. Accordingly, the legislature has provided this extraordinary process so as to enable the requisite information to be obtained. The examinees are not in any ordinary sense witnesses, and the ordinary standards of procedure do not apply. There is here an extraordinary and secret mode of obtaining information necessary for the proper conduct of the winding up. The process, borrowed from the law of bankruptcy, can only be described as being sui generis.’

Judges:

Megarry J

Citations:

[1970] Ch. 576

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See AlsoIn Re Rolls Razor Ltd ChD 1968
Buckley J said: ‘The powers conferred by section 268 are powers directed to enabling the court to help a liquidator discover the truth of the circumstances connected with the affairs of the company, information of trading, dealings, and so forth, in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Insolvency

Updated: 20 May 2022; Ref: scu.622387