Anglo Coal (Dawson Management) Pty Ltd v Greig

Anglo Coal (Dawson Management) Pty Ltd has applied to the Federal Court for an order under Order 15A rule 6 of the Federal Court Rules 2011, requiring the respondents to make discovery of certain documents relevant to a possible claim against the liquidators of HMP Constructions Pty Ltd for their involvement in an alleged breach of section 52(1) of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth). The applicant leased a Hitachi EX5500 Hydraulic Excavator from HMP under a rental agreement which included a provision for demobilisation of the excavator by HMP. The applicant paid a demobilisation charge for the excavator but HMP failed to demobilise it. The applicant seeks to inspect documents held by the respondents that may assist it in determining whether to commence proceedings against them.

The legal issues before the court were whether the applicant satisfied the criteria required by Order 15A rule 6(a), (b) and (c) in order to obtain an order for discovery of documents. In particular, the court considered whether there was reason to believe that the applicant has or may have the right to obtain relief, whether the applicant was lacking information reasonably necessary to decide whether to commence proceedings, and whether it was likely that the respondents have or have had documents necessary for the applicant to evaluate any right to relief.

The court found that the applicant had satisfied all three criteria required by Order 15A rule 6. It was reasonable to believe that the applicant may have a right to obtain relief from the respondents, and that the applicant lacked information reasonably necessary to decide whether to commence proceedings. Furthermore, it was likely that the respondents had documents relevant to the applicant’s potential claim. The orders sought by the applicant fell within the parameters of Order 15A rule 6.

The court made the orders sought by the applicant, requiring the respondents to make discovery of the specified documents within 14 days. The court will hear submissions as to costs.