Liquidation possession rights determined on merits after recalled sale order defeated the occupier's claim to remain in occupation.

In company liquidation proceedings, possession rights can be determined on the merits where an occupier has voluntarily intervened and been fully heard. The intervenor's claim to continue in possession failed because the order supporting the earlier debt recovery sale and possession claim had been displaced by a later tribunal order recalling the sale and rejecting the possession application. The Company Court also noted that the land did not belong beneficially to the company in liquidation, the official liquidator had no useful purpose in retaining it, and the applicant had agreed to waive lease rent arrears. On those facts and under the lease terms, the applicant was entitled to possession of the structure and the intervenor had no right to remain in occupation.

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Issues: Whether the applicant was entitled, in company liquidation proceedings, to obtain possession of the premises and have the intervenor removed notwithstanding the intervenor's claim based on an earlier debt recovery sale and possession order.

Analysis: The intervenor's claim to remain in possession failed because the order on which he relied had been displaced by the subsequent tribunal order recalling the sale and dismissing his possession application. The Company Court held that the intervenor, having entered the proceedings and been heard on the merits, could not insist on separate fresh proceedings to keep the controversy alive. The land itself did not belong to the company in liquidation, the official liquidator had no beneficial use for it, and the applicant was willing to waive arrears of lease rent. The applicant was also entitled to the structure by virtue of the lease terms and its participation in the sale proceedings, and the court found no reason to dislodge that entitlement.

Conclusion: The applicant was entitled to possession, and the intervenor was held to have no right to remain in occupation.

Ratio Decidendi: Where an occupier voluntarily intervenes and is fully heard in liquidation proceedings, the Company Court may determine possession rights on the merits, and a later order recalling the sale on which the occupier relies destroys the basis for continued possession.

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