Australia, Sept. 6 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Aug. 6:
1. This case raises the interesting issue of the extent to which a contract is under the "control of the court" after an order for specific performance is made in favour of one party, the other party fails to comply with that order and the first party then seeks vacation of the order and leave of the court to obtain damages for breach of contract. Specifically in question is whether, in the circumstances of this case, the first party's attempted termination of the contract after the other party's non-compliance with the order for specific performance has any impact on the first party's entitlement to claim damages.
2. These proceedings concern a contract for the sale and purchase of land dated 4 September 2021 (Contract) entered in respect of a property bearing Land Title Reference XX/XXXXXXX and situated at XXX Pennant Hills Road, West Pennant Hills, New South Wales (Property).
3. The parties to the Contract are the parties to these proceedings, being:
1) the plaintiff, Seung Taeg Baeg, as vendor;
2) the first defendant, Wink Singh Pty Ltd (ACN 643 078 835), as purchaser; and
3) the second defendant, Harkanwar Singh Chhabra, as guarantor of Wink Singh's obligations under the Contract.
4. For convenience, within this judgment I will refer to the first defendant and the second defendant collectively as the defendants.
5. In essence, the time for completion under the Contract was twice extended by formal addenda agreed between the parties. Wink Singh failed to complete the Contract on several occasions both before and after these extensions.
6. It was on this basis that Mr Baeg sought, and was granted, an order for specific performance of the Contract, with judgment delivered ex tempore by Parker J on 9 May 2024: Baeg v Wink Singh Pty Ltd [2024] NSWSC 589 (First Judgment). Amongst the orders made in the First Judgment was an order for specific performance of the Contract against both defendants and an order that Wink Singh complete the purchase of the Property by not later than 3:30pm on Thursday, 23 May 2024 in accordance with the Contract.
7. Wink Singh did not complete the purchase of the Property by that time or any time subsequently.
8. On 16 July 2024, the solicitors acting for Mr Baeg served a Notice of Termination on Wink Singh purporting to accept Wink Singh's repudiation of the Contract and terminating it on that basis.
*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/19878feb360221816562c16e)
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
