Shareholders’ remedy is by petition

Bamber v Eaton and others ChD TLR 22 October

Section 459(1) of the Companies Act 1985 grants a power to a member of a company to apply to the court by petition for relief. The claimant, who alleged that the affairs of the company were being conducted in a manner that was unfairly prejudicial to his interests, commenced proceedings by a claim form accompanied by particulars of claim. The defendants successfully applied to have the proceedings struck out as a nullity. Although CPR rule 17.3 gave the court wide power of amendment, it was not sufficiently wide to enable one form of procedure to be transformed into another. Nor did CPR rule 3.10, which empowers the court to make an order remedying an error of procedure such as a failure to comply with a rule or Practice Direction, relate to a requirement imposed by statute.