JCW

Chooi Peng was the counsel for the appellant/judgment. In this landmark Court of Appeal’s decision, the Court set aside the service of the Bankruptcy Notice and Creditor’s Petition on the ground that the application for substituted service of the Bankruptcy Notice and Creditor’s Petition is invalid and ought to be dismissed; and consequently, the Order for substituted service of the Bankruptcy Notice and Creditor’s Petition are null and void. The Court of Appeal held that for bankruptcy proceedings, the mandatory provision under rule 18(1) of the Bankruptcy Rules 1969 is for an application to be made by way of summons in chambers and not via a “notice of application”. The judgment creditor’s filing of a notice of application as opposed to a summons in chambers is a clear breach of the mandatory provision and the breach is not a mere irregularity or formal defect which is capable of being cured under Section 131 of the Bankruptcy Act 1967.