Tuesday 16 November 2021

UK: England and Wales: appealing a decision to defer a company's dissolution

Written judgment was delivered yesterday by ICC Judge Barber in Kumar v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2021] EWHC 2965 (Ch), following a decision made in September 2021. The judgment is of interest because it appears to be the first authority to consider the process for appealing a decision to defer a company's dissolution under section 205 of the Insolvency Act 1986

The company's dissolution had been deferred until 13 May 2025 (dissolution would ordinarily have occurred on 2 February 2021). Judge Barber held that the deferral no longer served a useful purpose: the original purpose - to investigate the company's affairs - had concluded and had needed only several months. It was also held - in the absence of express, statutory guidance - that Mr Kumar (the company's sole director and sole shareholder) had standing to bring the appeal under section 205. 

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