Cougar Air Pty Ltd v Sankarayya

Cougar Air Pty Ltd sought leave to appeal against a decision of the Civil and Administrative Tribunal of New South Wales, which had dismissed their claim for payment for repairs made to an air conditioning unit. The appeal related to two main issues. First, whether the tribunal had erred in concluding that the repairer was not entitled to payment for the repairs. Second, whether the tribunal had erred in refusing to allow a mercantile agent to appear as a support person to the company during the appeal.

The Court found that there were arguable grounds for appeal on both issues. With respect to the first issue, the Court found that the tribunal had erred in concluding that the repairer was not entitled to payment. The repairer had been called by the tenant, who was the occupier of the premises, and had repaired the air conditioning unit. The Court found that the repairer was therefore entitled to payment under section 65 of the Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 (NSW). With respect to the second issue, the Court found that the tribunal had erred in refusing to allow the mercantile agent to appear as a support person. The agent was authorised to conduct the appeal on behalf of the company and was therefore entitled to appear as a support person. The Court found that the tribunal's refusal to allow the agent to appear had caused injustice to the company and was therefore grounds for appeal.

The Court granted leave to appeal and allowed the appeal. The decision of the tribunal was set aside and the tenant was ordered to pay the repairer $2,332.86 by a specified date. The Court found that the refusal to allow the mercantile agent to appear as a support person had caused injustice to the company and that the error was sufficiently serious to justify setting aside the decision of the tribunal. The Court also found that there were arguable grounds for appeal on the issue of entitlement to payment and that the appeal should therefore be allowed.