Thomas v Deputy Commissioner of Taxation

Thomas has appealed against the refusal of leave to appeal against the decision of the District Court which upheld the decision of the Magistrates Court to refuse to set aside a default judgment. The applicants were subject to a default judgment in the Magistrates Court after they failed to enter an appearance to defend the claim made by the respondent. The default judgment was set aside by the Magistrates Court, but only on condition that the applicants paid a substantial sum into the court. The applicants then applied to have the default judgment set aside on discretionary grounds, but this application was dismissed by the Magistrate who found that service of the originating process was irregular. The applicants appealed to the District Court, which refused to set aside the default judgment on the basis that the service was regular. The applicants then appealed to the Supreme Court.
The main issue before the Court was whether the findings of the District Court should be revisited and whether leave to appeal should be granted. The Court noted that the decision of the District Court was a discretionary one and that the Court would not interfere with such a decision unless there was a clear error of law or if the decision was unreasonable. The Court found that there was no such error or unreasonableness in this case. The Court noted that the District Court had found that the service was effected in accordance with the rules and that this finding was open to the District Court on the evidence before it. The Court found that the District Court's decision was not unreasonable and that there was no error of law. Accordingly, the Court refused the application for leave to appeal.