Singh v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2022] NSWSC 78

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Singh v Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice [2022] NSWSC 78 Hearing dates: 8 February 2022 Date of orders: 10 February 2022 Decision date: 10 February 2022 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Davies J Decision: 1. Declare that the plaintiff has no standing to commence or maintain the proceedings. 2. Dismiss the proceedings pursuant to r 13.4 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW). 3. The plaintiff is to pay the defendants' costs. Catchwords: CIVIL PROCEDURE – commencement of proceedings – by bankrupt – application by bankrupt before sequestration for review of costs assessment – where Manager, Costs Assessment refused to proceed after sequestration order notified – judicial review proceedings by bankrupt to quash Manager's decision – whether plaintiff had standing to commence proceedings – proceedings dismissed Legislation Cited: Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) ss 5, 58, 60, 116 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 13.4 Cases Cited: Brierley v Anthony Charles Reeves T/as Kaplan Reeves & Co & Ors [2000] NSWSC 305 Cummings v Claremont Petroleum NL (1996) 185 CLR 124 Faulkner v Bluett (1981) 52 FLR 115 Heath v Tang [1993] 1 WLR 1421 Samootin v Shea [2010] NSWCA 371 Singh v Fobupu Pty Ltd [2020] FCA 886 Singh v Fobupu Pty Ltd [2021] FCAFC 14 Texts Cited: Nil Category: Procedural rulings Parties: Gurjit Singh (Plaintiff) Secretary, Department of Communities and Justice (First Defendant) Anthony Dicembre (Second Defendant) Innis Cull, as Joint and Several Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Gurjit Singh (Third Defendant) Gess Michael Rambaldi, as Joint and Several Trustee of the Bankrupt Estate of Gurjit Singh (Fourth Defendant) Ghulam Akbar Khan (Fifth Defendant) Samina Khan (Sixth Defendant) Fobupu Pty Limited (Seventh Defendant) Representation: Counsel: In person (Plaintiff) C Frommer (First Defendant) R Brown (Second, Fifth, Sixth & Seventh Defendants) No appearances (Third & Fourth Defendants)