Read the full judgment text of HCA 004274/1980 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 31 July 1980 before Hooper, Commissioner of the High Court.
Company law – shareholders – beneficial interest in company property – whether a shareholder has a beneficial interest in property owned by the company – principle that a company is the beneficial owner of its own property and shareholders have no legal or equitable interest therein – application of Order 18 rule 19(1)(b)(d) – striking out of frivolous, vexatious or abusive actions – whether action was bona fide – 21 plaintiffs claimed to be shareholders and beneficial tenants-in-common of land in Yuen Long – most had transferred shares, were not shareholders, or had given powers of attorney to the company – 1st plaintiff had consented to orders for possession and demolition of his stalls – default judgment and demolition against 2nd plaintiff – paragraphs 3 to 6 of indorsement challenged locus standi of Jabrin Limited and validity of EGM held on 24 July 1980 – previous proceedings rejected the locus standi challenge – lis pendens registered against company's property by memorial No. 236685 – vacation of lis pendens under section 19 of the Land Registration Ordinance (Cap. 128) and inherent jurisdiction – inherent jurisdiction to protect court from wrongful registration of lis pendens – reliance on Heywood v. B.D.C. Properties (No. 2), Thians Plastics Industrial Co. Ltd v. Tin's Chemical Industrial Co. Ltd, Taylor v. Taylor and Anstalt Nybro v. Hong Kong Resort Co. Ltd – counsel submitted solicitors Arthur Au & Co. should bear costs personally – court deferred question of costs to Registrar – action and indorsement of claim struck out – lis pendens vacated
Legal issues: Whether a shareholder has a beneficial interest in the property of the company · Whether to strike out the plaintiffs' action and indorsement of claim · Whether the lis pendens should be vacated
Outcome: Plaintiffs' action and indorsement of claim struck out in their entirety; lis pendens registered against the 1st defendant's property vacated forthwith