ACN 115 722 248 Pty Ltd v Milligan

ACN 115 722 248 Pty Ltd (the plaintiff) sought permission to appeal from a decision of the District Court of South Australia, which dismissed an appeal by the plaintiff from an earlier interlocutory decision of a Master of that Court. The interlocutory decision had ordered the plaintiff’s pleadings be struck out, but allowed the plaintiff to re-plead. The plaintiff unsuccessfully appealed to a judge of the District Court, and now sought leave to appeal from the Supreme Court of South Australia. The plaintiff also sought an extension of time in which to lodge its application for leave to appeal, as the application appeared to be out of time. The plaintiff argued that the District Court’s decision should be reconsidered because it occasioned a substantial injustice, or because the decision was attended by sufficient doubt to warrant reconsideration. The Court found that the plaintiff had not established that the decision was attended by any doubt, or that the decision gave rise to any injustice. The Court was not satisfied that the application for leave to appeal was made within the requisite time and, accordingly, the plaintiff also sought an extension of time to file the application. The Court found that the plaintiff had not demonstrated any exceptional circumstances to justify an extension of time. The Court concluded that the plaintiff had not demonstrated that the decision of the District Court was attended by any doubt, or that the decision gave rise to any injustice. Accordingly, the application for leave to appeal was refused. The Court granted an extension of time within which to file the application for leave to appeal.