High Court dismisses application for company director to represent company at appeal hearing and strikes out appeal on procedural grounds

Mr Karmarkar, the director of Jayashree Limited (Jayashree), filed an appeal in the High Court against a decision of the District Court to strike out a statement of claim he filed against the Commissioner. The claim filed name the Commissioner as second defendant. An accountancy firm was named as first defendant. The strike-out application was on the basis the claim disclosed no reasonably arguable cause of action against the Commissioner, by either Mr Karmarkar or Jayashree. 

In the Notice of Appeal, Mr Karmarkar named himself as the “plaintiff”. Court orders were later made joining Jayashree Ltd as the appellant and removing Mr Karmarkar as the appellant. 

Mr Karmarkar then filed an application for Jayashree seeking leave for him to represent the company at the hearing of the appeal. 

The High Court dismissed the application for Mr Karmarkar to represent Jayashree. The High Court was not persuaded that the Mannix rule, that a company has no right to be represented in the conduct of a case in court except by a barrister or solicitor of the High Court, should be departed from in this case. The Court also struck out the appeal on procedural grounds.