Shakespeares Pie Co Australia Pty Ltd v Multipye Pty Ltd

The case of Shakespeares Pie Co Australia Pty Ltd v Multipye Pty Ltd involved the plaintiff, a company seeking to wind up the defendant, Multipye Pty Ltd. The plaintiff issued a statutory demand to recover a debt, and the defendant subsequently sought to set aside the statutory demand. The defendant argued that there was a ground that "could" have been raised in the claim for setting aside the statutory demand, although it was not actually raised due to a lack of knowledge at the time. The matter was heard in the Federal Circuit Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the court was whether the defendant could rely on a ground for setting aside the statutory demand that it had no knowledge of and no means of discovering at the time the challenge to the statutory demand was open. Specifically, the court had to determine if the defendant's lack of knowledge of a potential ground for setting aside the statutory demand could be a valid defence against the plaintiff's winding up application.

The court held that the defendant's lack of knowledge of a potential ground for setting aside the statutory demand did not constitute a valid defence. The court emphasised that the defendant had an obligation to investigate and raise any available grounds for setting aside the statutory demand when the challenge was open. The court found that the defendant had no knowledge of and no means of discovering the potential ground at the relevant time. Therefore, the defendant's failure to raise the ground did not affect the validity of the statutory demand. The court dismissed the defendant's application to set aside the statutory demand, thereby allowing the plaintiff's winding up application to proceed.

The court ordered that the statutory demand remain in effect and that the winding up application by the plaintiff would proceed. The court did not grant the defendant's application to set aside the statutory demand, and no orders were made in favour of the defendant.