Costs issue determined where parties agreed to stay of winding up proceedings

The High Court determines the issue of costs of a motion granted to stay winding up proceedings, allowing for a comprehensive arbitration that includes all related disputes and parties. The original court case involved a company and its principals, with disputes arising from a joint fishing enterprise. The Applicant sought a stay based on an arbitration clause in a co-ownership agreement, which was complicated by the death of one principal and the involvement of multiple related entities. The Respondent/Petitioner initially resisted the stay, arguing that the Applicant had waived the right to arbitration by submitting a statement on the substance of the dispute. However, both parties ultimately agreed to a broad arbitration that encompassed all issues, including those in the winding up and partnership dissolution proceedings. The court concluded that it would not be fair to award the costs of the application to either party (in whole or in part), and that it cannot make the cost of the application costs in the cause of the arbitration. Since the parties have mutually agree to stay the winding up proceedings, the appropriate order would either be to make no order as to costs or to make the costs of the stay application costs in the cause in these Companies Act proceedings. The fairest result would be to provide that the costs of the current application would be costs in the cause in these Companies Act proceedings.