Mallegowda v Sood

The defendants in this case brought an application to strike out the plaintiff's statement of claim in the matter of Mallegowda v Sood. The plaintiff's original statement of claim had previously been struck out by the court. The case is a defamation proceeding in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia. The court had to decide whether the plaintiff's statement of claim contained sufficient particulars to satisfy the requirements of form and substance for a defamation claim. The court also had to determine whether the defendants had the right to issue subpoenas for the plaintiff's medical and telephone records before filing a defence.

The court found that the plaintiff's statement of claim did not contain sufficient particulars to satisfy the requirements of form and substance for a defamation claim. The court found that the plaintiff's statement of claim did not specify the defamatory imputations or the facts that gave rise to them. The court also found that the defendants had no right to issue subpoenas for the plaintiff's medical and telephone records before filing a defence. The court found that the defendants had acted in bad faith by issuing the subpoenas without leave and that the subpoenas were an abuse of process. The court ordered that all documents produced on subpoena by any party or person be returned forthwith. The court also made orders for the filing of defences, cross-claims and replies to those defences and cross-claims. The court referred the matter for mediation and listed it for directions.

The court granted leave to the plaintiff to re-list the plaintiff's notices of motion and referred the matter for mediation. The court listed the matter for directions on the Defamation List. The court reserved the issue of costs in relation to the issue of early subpoenae to the Defamation List judge. The court made orders for the filing of defences, cross-claims and replies to those defences and cross-claims.