Ranjan v Minister of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs [2000] FCA 1594

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Ranjan v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs

[2000] FCA 1594

GANEISHA SIRI RANJAN V MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS V 43 OF 2000 NORTH J 5 OCTOBER 2000 MELBOURNE

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

VICTORIA DISTRICT REGISTRY V 43 OF 2000

BETWEEN: GANEISHA SIRI RANJAN

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: NORTH J

DATE OF ORDER: 5 OCTOBER 2000

WHERE MADE: MELBOURNE

THE COURT ORDERS THAT: 1. The application is dismissed. 2. The applicant is to pay the respondent's costs of and incidental to this application. Note: Settlement and entry of orders is dealt with in Order 36 of the Federal Court Rules.

IN THE FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

VICTORIA DISTRICT REGISTRY V 43 OF 2000

BETWEEN: GANEISHA SIRI RANJAN

APPLICANT

AND: MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

RESPONDENT

JUDGE: NORTH J

DATE: 5 OCTOBER 2000

PLACE: MELBOURNE

REASONS FOR JUDGMENT

INtroduction 1 This is an application for review of a decision of the Refugee Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) made on 7 January 2000. The Tribunal affirmed a decision of the delegate of the respondent, the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, to reject the application by the applicant, Ganeisha Siri Ranjan, for a protection visa.

background and claims 2 The applicant is a 35-year-old male citizen of Sri Lanka who arrived in Australia on 7 December 1996. He is of Tamil ethnicity and Hindu by faith. He claimed a fear of persecution for reasons of his alleged political association with the LTTE. This claim was based on a number of specific incidents. I set out the major ones taken from the decision of the Tribunal. 3 In 1985 the applicant was beaten by army personnel in Jaffna when the school bus in which he was travelling was stopped. 4 Then in July 1991 he was detained in Colombo after a bomb explosion in the Joint Operation Command. He was released after his manager at work vouched for him. 5 In 1994, he married a Sinhalese woman. Following his marriage his house was raided on two occasions, the second being in June 1995. Although he suspects that the raids were a result of the actions of his wife's parents, who did not approve of the marriage, the raids also coincided with times of security crackdowns as a result of or following political assassinations. 6 Then on 31 January 1996 an explosion occurred at the Central Bank in Colombo at or about the time he was working in the vicinity at Grindley's Bank. By reason of the circumstances he regards himself as being suspected of complicity in that event. On 2 February 1996 police visited his house, apparently in relation to this incident.