Elzamtar v Bangladesh Islamic Centre of NSW Inc

In this case, Elzamtar sought to recover a debt from the Bangladesh Islamic Centre of NSW Inc, which had not been paid for over six years. The Centre argued that the claim was statute-barred, having been commenced more than six years after the debt arose. Elzamtar countered that the Centre had acknowledged the debt through a document signed by the Centre's president, and that partial payments had been made, which amounted to an acknowledgement of the debt. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary issue for the court to determine was whether the document signed by the Centre's president amounted to an acknowledgement of the debt, thereby tolling the limitation period. A secondary issue was whether promissory estoppel could be invoked to prevent the Centre from relying on its limitation defence, given that Elzamtar had detrimentally relied on the acknowledgement and partial payments.

The court held that the document signed by the Centre's president did not amount to an acknowledgement of the debt. While the document acknowledged the existence of a debt, it did not acknowledge that it was the debt claimed by Elzamtar. Therefore, the limitation period had expired. However, the court found that promissory estoppel could be invoked. Elzamtar had relied on the acknowledgement and partial payments to their detriment, and it would be inequitable for the Centre to rely on its limitation defence. Accordingly, the Centre was estopped from relying on the limitation defence, and Elzamtar's claim was not statute-barred.

The court ordered that the Centre pay the debt claimed by Elzamtar, plus interest. The Centre was also ordered to pay Elzamtar's costs of the proceeding.