Lisa Reynolds and Margaret Woods v Avatar Singh, Harkirat Singh, Aero Associates Pvt. Ltd and Aero Traders Pvt. Ltd

The proceeding involved Lisa Reynolds and Margaret Woods as applicants, and Avatar Singh, Harkirat Singh, Aero Associates Pvt. Ltd, and Aero Traders Pvt. Ltd as respondents. The dispute concerned allegations of misleading and deceptive conduct and breach of contract, specifically in relation to representations made about the sale of a business. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issues before the Court were whether the respondents had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct in contravention of the *Trade Practices Act 1974* (Cth) (now the *Competition and Consumer Act 2010* (Cth)) and the *Contracts Review Act 1980* (NSW), and whether there had been a breach of contract arising from the sale of the business. The applicants sought to establish that representations made regarding the business's financial performance and operational capacity were false and induced them to enter into the purchase agreement.

Justice Nicholas Smith found that the respondents had engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct. His Honour's reasoning focused on the evidence presented, which indicated that the representations made about the business's profitability and client base were not substantiated and were, in fact, false. The Court applied the principles of statutory interpretation relating to misleading and deceptive conduct, requiring a causal link between the conduct and the loss suffered by the applicants. Furthermore, the Court considered the terms of the sale agreement and found that the respondents had failed to meet their contractual obligations, particularly concerning the accuracy of information provided.

Consequently, the Court ordered that the contract for the sale of the business be rescinded and awarded damages to the applicants to compensate them for losses incurred as a result of the misleading and deceptive conduct and breach of contract.