Ghosh v NBN Limited

In the case of Ghosh v NBN Limited, the appellants filed a claim and statement of claim alleging defamation against the first, second, third, and fourth respondents. They sought to transfer the proceedings from the Supreme Court of Queensland to the District Court of New South Wales. The primary judge dismissed the application, and the appellants sought an appeal. The legal issues before the court were whether the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) prohibited the appellants' application and whether the application to transfer should be allowed under s 13 of the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 (Qld). The court found that the appellants had failed to make an application under r 389(2) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) within the required timeframe, and that no appeal lay from the decision of the Court in relation to a decision whether or not to transfer a proceeding. The appeal was dismissed with costs.

The court considered the provisions of r 389(2) of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) and held that the appellants' application was prohibited as no step had been taken in the proceedings for two years from the time the last step was taken. The court also found that s 13 of the Jurisdiction of Courts (Cross-vesting) Act 1987 (Qld) only provided for transfers of matters from one state supreme court to another and did not apply to the transfer of proceedings from the Supreme Court of Queensland to the District Court of New South Wales. The court held that the appellants' application to transfer proceedings was not allowable and dismissed the appeal with costs. The court did not grant the relief sought by the appellants.