(delivering the judgment of the court): On 18 July 1991, a winding-up order was made by the High Court, Kuala Lumpur (Zakaria Yatim J) against Sri Hartamas Development Sdn Bhd (the applicant in the motion before us) after ruling that the company had been unable to pay its debts consisting of claims by judgment creditors totalling $ 37.1m and claims by supporting creditors amounting to $ 1.4m. On the same day, an application for stay was refused by the same learned judge who also appointed the official receiver as provisional liquidator.

An appeal against the winding-up order was filed on 20 July 1991. The motion before this court was for an order of stay of the winding-up order pending disposal of the appeal.

In the affidavit in support of the motion, the grounds given for the application for stay was that in actual fact the company had very much more assets than debts, could settle all the debts and was therefore not insolvent. It is said that the company had its assets valued by an international valuer, Jones Lang Wooton, at $ 597,590,000.

At the commencement of the hearing of the motion, Mr SC Loh, counsel for the respondent, MBF Fin