ABSTRACT
It is now necessary to examine the remedies available in a s.459 petition. Building onto the foundation laid down in s.210 of the Companies Act 1948, the court is now given extremely wide power under s.461(1) to make such order as it thinks fit. In seeking an order, the petitioner should bear in mind the guiding principle that an order will only be made if it is appropriate ‘for giving relief in respect of the matters complained of’.1 In Re a Company (No. 008126 of 1989),2 after the petition was presented, the company went into administrative receivership. The petition, as presented, asked for an order to buy out the majority, but sought an order for the majority shareholders to buy his shares after the appointment of administrative receiver. The order sought was refused, even though the affairs of the company had been conducted by the majority in a manner which was unfairly prejudicial to the petitioner. This was because the appointment of the administrative receiver rendered a purchase order inappropriate ‘for giving relief in respect of the matters complained of’. The appointment had enabled the company to be properly run, so far as it was running at all.
