This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on May 5, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: In the latest development in the boardroom tussle between two groups of shareholders of Ire-Tex Corp Bhd, the High Court yesterday set aside the order issued against major shareholder Elite Cosmo Group Ltd and two others from effecting the resolutions passed in the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on April 27.

In a filing with the stock exchange, the company said the court’s decision was made in light of another suit purportedly filed by Ire-Tex against directors Mak Lin Kum, Felix Chin Wui Choong, Ahmad Amryn Abd Malek, chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Shariff Omar and company secretary Tan Tong Lang.

It said the second suit sought to declare that the four members of the board were removed and ceased to be directors of Ire-Tex as at April 27, and a permanent injunction that the defendants are restrained from holding themselves out as directors of the company or interfering with management of the company.

The suit also sought for Tan to take all necessary steps to submit notices of his termination as secretary of Ire-Tex and provide HMC Corporate Services Sdn Bhd the authorities and clearance for HMC to access the Bursa LINK system on behalf of the company, and damages to be assessed by the court.

Both suits have been fixed to be heard on May 8 before Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan, said Ire-Tex.

On Wednesday, the High Court granted orders seeking to restrain Elite Cosmo, Raja Hizad Raja Kamarulzaman and Hamdan Mohd Nor from effecting the resolutions passed in the meeting.

The EGM was called by Elite Cosmo — which owns a 16.27% stake in Ire-Tex — for the immediate removal of directors Chin, Mak, Soo Tee Wei, Lee Yow Fui and Wong Fook Hiong.

It also sought the removal of new directors appointed between March 1 and the date of the EGM, namely chairman Mohd Shariff and director Ahmad Amryn.

Elite Cosmo had instead proposed the appointment of Raja Hizad, Hamdan and Datuk Amiruddin Jamaluddin as directors on Ire-Tex’s board. However, Amiruddin had withdrawn his consent prior to the EGM.

While the resolutions were purportedly passed in the EGM, the meeting was considered invalid by the company due to the controversial way it was conducted, as the notice of the EGM issued on April 11 was not given by a member whose name was entered into the record of depositors.

On top of that, the scrutineer appointed by the company was not allowed to verify the attendance and vote-counting process, and the board of directors was not allocated proper seating for the meeting.

Ire-Tex’s share price fell 0.5 sen or 2.17% to 22.5 sen yesterday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM30.99 million.