Claims in the Touchwood winding up case totals Rs.3.3 bln
View(s):The Liquidator in the winding up application of Touchwood Investments informed the Commercial High Court last week that he has discovered more assets of the company and a comprehensive report on this will be submitted.
Counsel for the Liquidator quoting an interim report by the latter said that several transactions carried out by the company are ‘voidable’ under the law and such transactions should therefore be reversed re-vesting the ownership of the assets pertaining to such transactions in the company.
The case was then put off to March 15 next year.
Liquidator’s counsel said they have received 1537 claims from the creditors of the company amounts to Rs. 3.3 billion. The company owns 37 estates.
The interim report said the Liquidator has commenced the maintenance of the estates of the local plantations and has provided security to these plantations in accordance with the Maintenance Agreement the company has had with the investors who are now the creditors of the company being wound-up.
It is stated that since the company has exclusive rights over the maintenance of the plantations the Liquidator has taken up the task of maintaining the same. “The Liquidator is of the opinion that severe hardships and complications will have to be faced in the event the investors attempt to maintain their plots of land on their own, due to many reasons, one such reason being limited access to each plot. Under these circumstances the individual investors have no authority to enter their plots of land without seeking prior permission from the Liquidator, as allowing individual investors to manage their plots according their whims would jeopardize the rights of other investors and place the entire estate and the plots of other investors at great risk,” the report said. Avindra Rodrigo with Rozali Fernando appears for the petitioner, Nihal Fernando PC appeared for the company while Sugath Hettiarachchi appeared for the Liquidator. V.K. Choksy and Shanaka de Livera appeared for several creditors of the failed company.