On April 27, 1984 I dismissed the petition by Securicor (M) Sdn. Bhd. to wind up Universal Cars Sdn. Bhd.

By section 218(1)(e) of the Companies Act the Court may order the winding up of a company if it is unable to pay its debts. By section 218(2)(a) the company shall be deemed unable to pay its debts if a creditor to whom the company is indebted in a sum exceeding $500.00 then due has made a demand for the same and the company has for 3 weeks thereafter neglected to pay the same. It is to be noted that it is not the neglect to meet the demand of the creditor that gives the jurisdiction to the Court to order that the company be wound up but the inability of the company to pay its debts. It is the presumption arising from the neglect to meet the demand that gives the Court the jurisdiction. This presumption is rebuttable.

In the instant case it seemed to me that the position was on all fours with the position that obtained In Re London and Paris Banking Corporation (1874) LR 19 Eq Cases 444. In that case Sir G. Jessel M.R. said at 446

"… It is very obvious, on reading that enactment, that the word "neglected" is not necessarily equivalent to the word "omitted". Negligence i