Akhtar & Gaber (No. 2)

In the Family Court of Australia, Akhtar appealed against an order made by Foster J on 19 February 2018, which consolidated applications and fixed them for hearing. The court was required to determine whether Akhtar should be granted leave to appeal against this order and, if so, whether the appeal should proceed. Additionally, the court had to consider the costs implications of the appeal, given its outcome.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether Akhtar should be granted leave to appeal the procedural orders made by Foster J. This involved assessing whether the appeal had a reasonable chance of success and whether it was in the interests of justice to allow the appeal to proceed. Furthermore, the court had to consider the costs implications of the appeal, particularly in light of its wholly unsuccessful nature and the potential for an abuse of process.

The court found that Akhtar's application for leave to appeal was wholly unsuccessful, and that the appeal appeared to be an abuse of process. As such, the court refused Akhtar's application for leave to appeal. The court further found that the application was vexatious and an abuse of process, and ordered Akhtar to pay the respondent's costs of and incidental to the application for leave to appeal on an indemnity basis in the sum of $3,777.72. These costs were to be paid within 28 days of the order.

The court dismissed Akhtar's application for leave to appeal the orders of Foster J made on 19 February 2018 and ordered Akhtar to pay the respondent's costs of and incidental to the application for leave to appeal on an indemnity basis.