SHRESTHA v Minister for Immigration

In *Shrestha v Minister for Immigration*, the applicant, Mr. Shrestha, sought judicial review of a decision by the Migration Review Tribunal (the Tribunal) to affirm the cancellation of his student visa. The Minister for Immigration was the respondent.

The central legal issues before the Federal Court were whether the Tribunal's decision was affected by jurisdictional error. Specifically, the applicant alleged that the Tribunal's decision was irrational and unreasonable, that it took irrelevant considerations into account, and that it erroneously applied a rebuttable presumption in favour of visa cancellation when exercising its discretion.

Justice Cameron found that the Tribunal had indeed committed jurisdictional error. The Tribunal's reasoning for cancelling Mr. Shrestha's visa was found to be irrational and unreasonable because it failed to adequately consider the applicant's submissions regarding his financial capacity and the reasons for his academic difficulties. Furthermore, the Tribunal impermissibly relied on a presumption that cancellation was the appropriate course of action, rather than engaging in a proper discretionary assessment of all relevant factors. The Court held that the Tribunal's failure to properly exercise its discretion constituted jurisdictional error.

The Court ordered that the decision of the Migration Review Tribunal be set aside.