Mandava v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection

This matter came before the High Court of Australia concerning an amended application for an order to show cause. The plaintiff, Mr Mandava, sought an order in the nature of mandamus to compel the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection to grant him a further student visa. The application arose from a series of earlier decisions, including the dismissal of the plaintiff's appeal from the Federal Circuit Court by Justice Murphy of the Federal Court of Australia, which in turn had dismissed the plaintiff's application for judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal. The Tribunal had confirmed a delegate's decision that the plaintiff did not meet the requirements for a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa, specifically that he was not enrolled in an approved educational institution.

The legal issues before the High Court included whether the plaintiff's amended application for an order to show cause was competent and not an abuse of process, and whether there was any tenable basis for the relief sought, namely an order of mandamus. The plaintiff's original application had sought certiorari to quash Justice Murphy's judgment, but this was no longer pressed. The sole remaining claim was that the Minister had failed to consider the plaintiff's exceptional circumstances, which the plaintiff contended warranted the grant of a visa.

The High Court found that, given the plaintiff was no longer pursuing the quashing of Justice Murphy's judgment, the amended application to show cause was incompetent and an abuse of process. The Court reasoned that there was no tenable basis for the relief sought, particularly as the earlier Federal Court decision had found the appeal to be devoid of merit and that the Tribunal had made no jurisdictional or other error. Consequently, the High Court considered that the application had no reasonable prospects of success. The application was dismissed with costs.