COFP Pty Ltd v Dhanush Infotech Pty Ltd

COFP Pty Ltd brought proceedings against Dhanush Infotech Pty Ltd for moneys owed for services rendered and damages for breach of contract. The primary judge gave summary judgment in favour of the respondent, finding that any agreement had been made with a related company, not the respondent. COFP appealed, contending that the documents relied on by Dhanush as constituting the agreement were false. This argument was not made before the primary judge. Furthermore, the terms of the documents were consistent with COFP's statement of claim. The appeal centred on whether the primary judge erred in giving summary judgment.

The court considered whether the primary judge was correct in finding that COFP had not produced evidence of an agreement with Dhanush. The court found that, regardless of the status of the documents, COFP had not provided any evidence of an agreement with the respondent. The court noted that the burden was on COFP to establish that it had a contractual relationship with the respondent. COFP's failure to provide such evidence resulted in the primary judge's decision to grant summary judgment to the respondent. The appeal was dismissed.

COFP sought leave to adduce further evidence regarding which company it had contracted with. The court found that the evidence sought was not relevant to the primary issue, which was whether COFP had a contractual relationship with Dhanush. The court held that the evidence did not change the fact that COFP had not provided evidence of an agreement with the respondent. The appeal is dismissed with costs.