Daryanani v Kumar & Co (A Firm)

In an application for permission to appeal, accepted medical evidence that the applicant could not attend justified an adjournment. The applicant could not choose the judges who would hear the application. Listing was primarily a matter for the listing office. A judge who had been assigned the application and had read the papers could retain it for efficiency. The application was adjourned without an order for costs.

Mr Daryanani applied for permission to appeal from a decision of the Queen’s Bench Division, where His Honour Judge Hicks sat as a High Court judge. He supplied a medical certificate stating that gastroenteritis prevented his attendance and sought an adjournment. He also asked for the adjourned application to be heard by Mantell LJ because that judge had previously dealt with the matter.

Lord Justice Rix considered the application in the parties’ absence. The issues were whether the medical evidence justified postponement and whether the applicant could influence the composition of the court.

Lord Justice Rix accepted the medical certificate at face value and accepted that Mr Daryanani was unable to attend.

1. Adjournment. The application for permission to appeal was therefore adjourned until the applicant had recovered and a new hearing date could be fixed.
2. Listing and court constitution. Listing applications before judges of the Court of Appeal was primarily a matter for the listing office. A litigant was not entitled to choose the membership of the court hearing the application.
3. Retention by the assigned judge. Since Lord Justice Rix had been assigned the application and had read the papers, he considered that efficiency justified the matter returning to him. He therefore refused the request that it be heard by Mantell LJ.
4. Orders. A perfected transcript was to be supplied to Mr Daryanani at public expense. There was no order for costs.

1. Court of Appeal (Civil Division): Lord Justice Rix adjourned the application for permission to appeal, refused the request for it to be heard by Mantell LJ, and made no order for costs.
2. Queen’s Bench Division: The application arose from a decision of His Honour Judge Hicks sitting as a High Court judge. No citation or further details of that decision are stated.