Top Brands Ltd and another v Sharma and another [2014] EWHC 2753 (Ch), [2014] All ER (D) 32 (Aug)
The claimant companies sought relief, under s 212 of the Insolvency Act 1986, for the first defendant’s misapplication of a company’s funds while acting as its liquidator. The Chancery Division, in allowing the claim, held that the first defendant had acted in breach of the duty implicit in s 107 of the 1986 Act and had acted negligently in paying out the funds. Further, the first defendant’s defences, including under s 1157 of the Companies Act 2006 and the illegality of the company’s conduct were rejected, as her conduct had not been reasonable and the illegality defence did not arise in the circumstances.
