Chawla (Migration)

The applicant, Mr. Chawla, sought judicial review of a decision to cancel his Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, subclass 573 Higher Education Sector. The cancellation was based on the grounds that his confirmation of enrolment had been cancelled by his education provider. Mr. Chawla contended that he had attended classes and completed his subjects, and that the cancellation of his enrolment was due to a failure on the part of the education provider, despite his having paid the required fees. The matter came before Jason Pennell.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the delegate's decision to cancel Mr. Chawla's visa was affected by jurisdictional error. This required the court to consider whether the delegate had properly applied the relevant provisions of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) and associated regulations, particularly concerning the grounds for cancellation and the evidence before the delegate. The court also had to determine if the delegate had taken into account irrelevant considerations or failed to consider relevant ones in reaching their decision.

In his reasoning, Jason Pennell found that the delegate had erred in their assessment of the evidence. The delegate had placed undue weight on the cancellation of the confirmation of enrolment without adequately considering Mr. Chawla's evidence demonstrating his compliance with course requirements and the subsequent failure of the education provider. The court applied the principle that a delegate must undertake a proper evaluation of all relevant evidence before making a decision, and that a failure to do so can constitute jurisdictional error.

The court ordered that the decision under review be set aside.