On 10 April 1968, judgment in default of appearance was given in this case for the plaintiffs. The defendants were sued in their capacity as liquidators acting for and on behalf of Tropical Woods Ltd., a company in voluntary liquidation. Both defendants were at the time of the issue of the writ out of the jurisdiction. But leave had been granted for service of the notice of the writ on them at their addresses in Italy. And they were accordingly served. Now this motion is brought by a person described as Tropical Woods Ltd. to have the ex parte judgment set aside. I say that the person bringing the motion was so described because as will presently appear the agent or agents through whom the company acted cannot be properly identified. The ground for the application is that the defendants were not the proper persons to be sued. The action should have been brought against the applicant, Tropical Woods Ltd., acting through its ordinary directors. The applicant said that it was not aware that the writ had been issued. By the time it knew of it, judgment had been taken. Hence this application.
It was not disputed that a person not a party to an action could bring a motion to set the judgment in that action aside. There is authority that Order 27, r. 16 of the Supreme [High] Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 1954 (L.N. 140A), enables a judgment by default to be set aside on the application of a third party. But it must be remembered that the rule is designed to enable judgments by default to be set aside by those who have, or can acquire, a locus standi. It does not give a locus standi to those who have none: see Jacques v. Harrison (1884) 12 Q.B.D. 165, C.A. What is the position in this case? At the time when the writ was issued Tropical Woods Ltd. was in liquidation. The two persons named as defendants were its liquidators and [p.506] they were sued in that capacity. Section 254 of the Companies Code, 1963 (Act 179), says that on the appointment of a liquidator for the purposes of a private liquidation, which this indeed was, all the powers of the board of directors shall vest in the liquidator and the powers and authority of every director shall cease. The only saving in the directors' powers is in so far as the company in general meeting or the liquidator sanctions their continuance. They could also exercise powers so far as is necessary to prepare statements and accounts of the company. According to section 255 (1) of the Code, the liquidator in a private
