Malhi v Minister for Immigration Citizenship Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia considered an application for judicial review concerning a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to affirm a delegate of the Minister's refusal to grant a student visa. The primary applicant, a citizen of India, along with his dependants, sought the visa. The AAT had found that the applicant was not a genuine student intending to remain in Australia temporarily.

The legal issues before the court were whether the applicant was denied procedural fairness, specifically whether he was afforded a meaningful opportunity to present his evidence and arguments to the Tribunal, and alternatively, whether the Tribunal's decision was tainted by apprehended bias. The court was required to determine if the conduct of the Tribunal member during the hearing prevented the applicant from having a fair hearing.

The court reasoned that the applicant had discharged the onus of proving he was not given a meaningful opportunity to present his case before the Tribunal. While acknowledging that the AAT is not a court and its review standards differ from those of superior courts, the court found that the applicant's challenge based on a denial of a meaningful hearing under section 360 of the *Migration Act 1958* (Cth) was made out. Consequently, the court allowed the application, quashed the AAT's decision, and remitted the matter to the AAT for redetermination by a differently constituted member.