Liberty to apply cannot be used to extend the remit of company law proceedings

Company law – petitioner sought liberty to take decisions on behalf of the company to conduct a hearing in the High Court in relation to the assessment of damages due to the company in proceedings against the company’s former solicitors – further, in the event that the petitioner agrees a provisional settlement of the company’s claims, the petitioner sought an order granting him liberty to bring an application on notice for approval of the proposed settlement and for the discontinuance of the company’s claim in the proceedings – original papers presented to the court omitted a great deal of necessary material - argued that the court has jurisdiction to entertain the motion on foot of a liberty to apply that was granted by the High Court when granting relief - only a liberty to apply and not a liberty to re-enter – order in fact grants liberty to apply in the event that the settlement negotiations are unsuccessful - clear distinction between liberty to apply and liberty to re-enter - liberty to apply is not some sort of free-standing ground of jurisdiction that allows new claims to be made - cannot use the liberty to apply to essentially extend the remit of the proceedings in terms of some quite new reliefs - unfair and oppressive conduct by the petitioner - deprived of the opportunity to challenge on the merits the decision that there was oppression because his appeal on that issue has been struck out as moot at the urging of the petitioner – application dismissed.