Randhawa v Minister for Home Affairs

The applicants, Mr and Mrs Randhawa, sought judicial review of a decision by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) which affirmed the Minister for Home Affairs' refusal to grant them a student visa. The central dispute concerned the applicants' failure to lodge their application for merits review with the AAT within the prescribed 21-day period. The first applicant alleged fraud in relation to the visa refusal, which he contended vitiated the AAT's decision. The matter came before Judge Vasta in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The court was required to determine whether the AAT's decision was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the court had to consider whether the applicants' failure to lodge their merits review application within the statutory timeframe, or the alleged fraud, constituted a jurisdictional error on the part of the AAT.

Judge Vasta found that the applicants had not established jurisdictional error. The court reasoned that the AAT had correctly applied the law in relation to the time limits for lodging an application for merits review. The alleged fraud, while a serious matter, did not, in the context of the present proceedings, amount to a jurisdictional error by the AAT. The AAT had considered the available information and made its decision within its jurisdiction.

Consequently, the application filed on 27 May 2019 was dismissed. The applicants were also ordered to pay the costs of the First Respondent, fixed in the sum of $5,000.