KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today dismissed the application of Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd (SDHB) and its three subsidiaries for a permanent stay of the winding-up order, pending its appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Judge Ahmad Murad Abdul Aziz said the applicants had failed to prove any special circumstances for the court to grant the stay of the winding-up order issued by the court on Jan 10.
The judge said it was in the best interest of the creditors, considering the extremely dire financial conditions of the companies, that the provisional liquidator be answerable to the court rather than leaving the companies in the hands of its directors.
“I further find that a refusal to grant the stay would not render the appeals against the orders to wind up, nugatory.
“The work of the interim liquidator can and will be continued by the provisional liquidator by same person in his capacity as the professional liquidator,” said the judge when delivering today’s decision via Zoom.
The court ordered the companies to pay total costs of RM11,000 to the six financial institutions acting as the suit’s petitioners namely Standard Chartered Saadiq Berhad, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad, AmBank Islamic Berhad, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Berhad, United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, and Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad.
On Feb 10, SDHB and its three subsidiaries - Serba Dinamik Group Berhad, Serba Dinamik Sdn Bhd (SDSB) and Serba Dinamik International Ltd (SDIL) had obtained an interim stay on a winding-up order against them.
On Jan 10, the court allowed a petition filed by six financial institutions to wind up the four companies.
The four companies are said to have a total debt of nearly RM5 billion.
On Jan 30, the Serba Dinamik companies filed a motion for a stay of the winding-up order, pending their appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In their affidavit supporting the motion for a stay, Serba Dinamik and the subsidiaries said the winding-up order should be deferred, pending the disposal of the appeal to the Court of Appeal and the appeal against their application to seek an adjournment of the winding-up hearing.
They said if a stay of the winding-up order is not granted, the four companies will suffer irreparable damage, which would see their contracts being terminated upon winding up, which, they claimed, is irrecoverable. - Bernama
