Khanna v MIMIA

The High Court of Australia heard an appeal in *Khanna v MIMIA*. The dispute concerned the validity of a decision made by the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (MIMIA) to refuse to grant the appellant, Mr. Khanna, a visa. Mr. Khanna sought judicial review of this decision.

The primary legal issue before the High Court was whether the Minister's decision to refuse the visa was vitiated by a failure to afford Mr. Khanna procedural fairness. Specifically, the court had to determine if Mr. Khanna was given an adequate opportunity to respond to adverse information that was before the Minister when making the decision.

The High Court held that the Minister's decision was invalid due to a breach of procedural fairness. Their Honours found that the adverse information relied upon by the Minister was of such a nature that it was incumbent upon the Minister to disclose it to Mr. Khanna and provide him with a reasonable opportunity to address it before making a final decision. The failure to do so meant that Mr. Khanna was denied a fair hearing.

The High Court allowed the appeal and set aside the decision of the Minister. The matter was remitted to the Minister for reconsideration according to law.