Arjunan v Neighbourhood Association DP No 285853 (No 2)

The applicants, Mr Arjunan and others, sought to reopen and vary orders previously made by the Court of Appeal in relation to Neighbourhood Association DP No 285853. The dispute concerned the applicants' reliance on purportedly newly discovered facts, including unredacted documents, and their attempt to reagitate arguments previously considered by the court.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether there was a basis to reopen and vary the existing orders under rule 36.16 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (UCPR). This rule permits a court to set aside or vary an order. A secondary issue concerned the court's prior decision to refuse leave to issue subpoenas.

The Court of Appeal found no basis for reopening the judgment. The court applied the principles governing applications to reopen judgments, which require a high threshold to be met, particularly after judgment has been published. The applicants failed to demonstrate that the "newly discovered facts" were genuinely new and could not have been discovered with reasonable diligence prior to the original hearing, nor that they would have likely altered the outcome. The court also found no error in the prior decision to refuse leave to issue subpoenas.

Consequently, the applicants' notice of motion dated 2 June 2023 was dismissed.