Liquidation claim verification: liquidator may demand further documents before accepting a claim on an incomplete record.

In liquidation, a liquidator may scrutinise a claim against the corporate debtor's records and the documents produced by the claimant, and the claimant must place sufficient material before the liquidator for verification. Where the existing material is inadequate, the liquidator is entitled to seek further supporting documents relevant to the claim before reconsideration. The claimant therefore has no right to immediate acceptance of the claim on an incomplete record, and the liquidator's insistence on additional documents was upheld.

---

---

Issues: Whether the liquidator was justified in requiring the applicant to furnish additional documents to substantiate its claim and in declining immediate acceptance of the claim as filed.

Analysis: In liquidation, the liquidator is required to scrutinise claims on the basis of the records available with the corporate debtor and the documents produced by the claimant. A claimant is therefore bound to place the requisite material before the liquidator for consideration of the claim. The liquidator was entitled to call for further supporting documents where the materials already filed were found insufficient for verification. The request for additional documents was held to be relevant to the claim and within the liquidator's to insist upon before reconsidering the claim.

Conclusion: The applicant was not entitled to immediate acceptance of its claim on the existing record, and the liquidator's insistence on further documents was upheld.

---