Read the full judgment text of HCA 003150/1997 on BabelCite. This High Court CFI judgment was delivered on 4 May 1998 before Master Jones.
Civil procedure – service of writ outside jurisdiction – trial of preliminary issue under O.36 r. 1 RHC – whether defendant resident in Sri Lanka was served with writ on 10 May 1997 as deposed by process server N.B. Sirisena – plaintiff Hong Kong liquidator claiming sum as guarantor of third party debt – judgment entered in default of appearance and registered in Sri Lanka – defendant applied to set aside Hong Kong judgment – defendant denied service, claimed strict security at premises, and produced police letter asserting no service – court accepted process server's evidence and rejected defence evidence – service found proved – credibility assessment – process server's unsolicited description of premises matching defendant's plan and evidence – police letter held irrelevant – preliminary issue answered in favour of plaintiff – fourteen day order nisi for costs to plaintiff on solicitor and own client basis including air fares and board and lodging following adverse finding on credibility.
Legal issues: Validity of service of writ on defendant in Sri Lanka
Outcome: Preliminary issue answered in the affirmative: the court found that the defendant was served with the papers in Sri Lanka on 10 May 1997.