Covid-19 caused cancellation of two judicial acts

The case on the complaint of an individual, whose appeal to accept additional evidence was rejected, was referred to the highest court of Russia. The district court subsequently made a similar decision, but the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation did not agree with this position.

The question concerned a bankruptcy case, in the framework of which the liquidator was challenging a number of money transactions made to the applicant during a period of suspicion. The anti-crisis manager considered this preferential satisfaction and demanded to return the received funds to the bankruptcy estate through the court.

The court of first instance, where the defendant did not appear, satisfied the claim. Then, in the court of appeal, the citizen presented some facts of additional evidence, but they were not taken into account, and cassation also rejected the new arguments of the individual.

The applicant's position was that during the period of hearings in the court of first instance, he was working as a volunteer and contracted COVID-19. This circumstance prevented him from going to court and presenting the necessary documents.

However, neither the court of appeal, nor the district court, met these arguments with understanding. Both boards did not take the fact that a sick person or a person who had a contact with a sick person was in self-isolation into account, which violated the applicant's rights.

As a result, both judicial acts were canceled, and the case will be reconsidered in the court of appeal (decision No. 305-ES20-18526 (2) dated December 14, 2021 in case № A40-72594 / 2017).