In Re Glenevan Pty Ltd [2015] NSWSC 201 the Deputy Commissioner of Taxation sought an order that the defendant company Glenevan Pty Limited be wound up in insolvency and a liquidator appointed. In support of its grounds of opposition, the defendant filed a document entitled “Affidavit/Commercial Lien” sworn by its director, Anthony William Evans. The court noted the “document of some 15 pages comprises largely spurious legal nonsense.” The defendant contended the Letters Patent issued under the great seal of Australia by the Queen appointing the Governor-General in Australia were issued incorrectly, citing Fitzgibbon v HM Attorney General [2005] EWHC 114 (Ch) in the UK High Court. The court held that the judgment provides no defence of the order, and that the commercial lien was invalid.
“The repeated proposition that the affidavit, being unrefuted, “stood as law and fact” is nonsense. Unrebutted affidavits do not necessarily conclusively establish the facts deposed to in them. They are evidence of facts. They do not establish them conclusively. Even less do they establish law. The idea that somehow by serving the so-called commercial lien on the Deputy Commissioner or anyone else those parties become bound by it is equally nonsense. Mere receipt or notice of a document does not mean that the recipient acknowledges, accepts or becomes bound by it. In the course of legal proceedings, parties are served with statements of claim and affidavits on a regular basis. The receipt of those documents does not of itself mean that the party is bound by or party to it, any more than receipt of a letter by an addressee means the party accepts its truth or becomes bound by it.”
Click to access in-the-matter-of-glenevan-pty-ltd-2015-nswsc-201.pdf
The following year, Anthony William Evans attempted to pay a 1.42 million dollar debt with a promissory note, which was rejected in Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd v Evans; Evans v Esanda Finance Corporation Ltd [2016] NSWSC 1742
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