ABSTRACT
Where a company is in compulsory liquidation, the Official Receiver may at any time before the dissolution of the company apply to the court under s 133 of the Insolvency Act 1986 for a public examination.60 The court may also order a public examination in a voluntary winding up by virtue of s 112 of the Insolvency Act 1986. There is no longer any need for the Official Receiver to allege fraud to justify the holding of a public examination.61 The Official Receiver must make such a request, unless the court orders otherwise, where one-half in value of the company’s creditors or threequarters in value of the company’s contributories so request. In Re Casterbridge Properties, Jeeves v Official Receiver,62 Burton J held that the court would have a discretion on an application under r 7.47 of the Insolvency Rules 1986 to refuse a public examination, even where requested by the Official Receiver, but because the order would normally be mandatory, the onus of persuading the court to discharge it would rest on the applicant.
