CBFC Limited and Commonwealth Bank of Australia v Sim

In the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, CBFC Limited and Commonwealth Bank of Australia brought an action against Sim to prevent him from leaving the Territory and to restrain him from doing so. The plaintiffs sought to recover debts owed by Sim under hire purchase agreements and a loan. The court had to decide whether there were reasonable grounds to believe that Sim’s departure would prejudice the plaintiffs' chances of recovering the debts, if the application fell within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Magistrates Court or the Federal Court, if the application was oppressive or an abuse of process, and if Sim needed to be absconding to avoid paying his debts.

The court held that there were reasonable grounds to believe Sim’s departure would prejudice the plaintiffs' chances of recovery, the application did not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the other courts, the application was not oppressive or an abuse of process, and it was not necessary for Sim to be absconding to avoid paying his debts. The court found that Sim had insufficient assets to repay his debts, he had disclosed the location of all his assets, and preventing his return to Indonesia would achieve no result. The court accepted Sim's evidence about the extent of his assets.

The orders of the court were that Sim shall surrender his passport to the sheriff of the Supreme Court and be restrained from leaving the Territory until judgment is pronounced by the Federal Magistrates Court in the bankruptcy proceeding. The court also ordered that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s claim against Sim for the payment of the debt incurred by him under the terms of a Better Business Loan be heard and determined as if the proceeding under the Act was a proceeding for the recovery of the debt. Sim consented to judgment being entered in favour of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in the sum of $41,269.40 plus costs to be taxed or agreed.