Bicheno Investments Pty Ltd v David John Winterbottom [2017] NSWSC 536

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Bicheno Investments Pty Ltd v David John Winterbottom [2017] NSWSC 536 Hearing dates: 1 and 2 May 2017 Date of orders: 09 May 2017 Decision date: 09 May 2017 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: McDougall J Decision: Summons dismissed with costs. Catchwords: CONTRACTS – construction and interpretation of fee deed – whether language of deed ambiguous – whether defendants' entitlement to an incentive required conduct of a physical stock take – use of text, context and purpose – where one construction would lead to commercial absurdity Cases Cited: Codelfa Construction Pty Limited v State Rail Authority of New South Wales (1982) 149 CLR 337 Mainteck Services Pty Ltd v Stein Heurtey SA (2014) 89 NSWLR 633 Mount Bruce Mining Pty Ltd v Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (2015) 256 CLR 104 Provincial Insurance Australia Pty Ltd v Consolidated Wood Products Pty Ltd (1991) 25 NSWLR 541 Victoria v Tatts Group Ltd (2016) 90 ALJR 392 Zhang v ROC Services (NSW) Pty Ltd [2016] NSWCA 370 Texts Cited: Macquarie Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary Category: Principal judgment Parties: Bicheno Investments Pty Ltd (1st Plaintiff) Stock Suppliers Australia Pty Limited (2nd Plaintiff) David John Winterbottom (1st Defendant) Rahul Goyal (2nd Defendant) Representation: Counsel: R J Weber SC with J A C Potts SC and P D Reynolds (Plaintiffs) J R Williams with J S Burnett (Defendants)