Kridan Pty Ltd v Le

Kridan Pty Ltd, the creditor, sought costs in relation to a creditor's petition against the debtor, Mr. Le. A default judgment had been entered against Mr. Le, followed by the issuance of a bankruptcy notice. The core of the dispute revolved around Mr. Le's assertion that he was unaware of these proceedings and, crucially, of the service of the bankruptcy notice. He claimed the documents were served at his place of residence but were collected by a third party and never brought to his attention.

The court was required to determine whether the service of the bankruptcy notice had been properly effected, notwithstanding that Mr. Le did not personally receive the documents. This involved considering the rules of service and whether the circumstances constituted valid service in the absence of actual receipt by the debtor. The court also had to consider the implications of this for an award of costs against Mr. Le.

Justice Burnett found that the service of the bankruptcy notice was not properly effected. The court reasoned that while service at the debtor's place of residence might ordinarily be sufficient, the specific circumstances, where the documents were collected by a third party and not delivered to Mr. Le, meant that he was genuinely unaware of the proceedings. Consequently, the court held that it would be unjust to award costs against Mr. Le in these circumstances.

No order as to costs was made.