Chileshe v E and M Business Trust T/A Yellow Brick Road Service Group

In the matter of *Chileshe v E and M Business Trust T/A Yellow Brick Road Service Group*, the applicant, Mr. Chileshe, sought to set aside a default judgment entered against him in favour of the respondent, E and M Business Trust T/A Yellow Brick Road Service Group. The dispute arose from an alleged breach of a franchise agreement. The application was heard by Judge Whelan in the County Court of Victoria.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the default judgment should be set aside. This required the Court to consider the principles governing applications to set aside default judgments, specifically whether there was a meritorious defence and whether the applicant had provided a sufficient explanation for the delay in filing a defence.

Judge Whelan applied the well-established principles for setting aside default judgments. The Court noted that a party seeking to set aside a default judgment must demonstrate both a meritorious defence and a reasonable explanation for the failure to file a defence within the prescribed time. In this instance, the Court found that Mr. Chileshe had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for his delay, which involved a significant period of inaction after being served with the originating process. Furthermore, the Court was not satisfied that a sufficiently arguable defence had been raised.

Consequently, the Court dismissed the application to set aside the default judgment.