TIN WAN TUNG v. WONG SEE YIN AND OTHERS

Parties

Procedural Posture

Civil Dispute (misrepresentation, Property Transfer, Securities Issues) / Interlocutory Applications for Striking Out Pleadings and for Further and Better Particulars

Legal Issues

1. 1 Whether parts of the defendants' defences are scandalous, frivolous or vexatious and should be struck out under Order 18 Rule 19 or the court's inherent jurisdiction
2. 2 Whether specific further and better particulars should be ordered under Order 18 Rule 12(3B) to dispose fairly or save costs
3. 3 Whether pleaded background allegations (litigations, company statuses, alleged deception) are relevant to issues of defence and proportionate to trial length

Ratio Decidendi

The court struck out numerous sub-paragraphs of the defendants' defences as scandalous or irrelevant where the pleaded matters (extensive background litigation, alleged company-striking-off, imitation of Owners' Committee, conjectural motives, CSSA investigations and smears) had no pleaded causal connection to any loss or to the substantive grounds of defence and would unduly lengthen trial; where particulars were necessary to dispose fairly or save costs the court ordered specific particulars to be given (locations and dates of execution of documents, dates when plaintiffs became aware of transfers, particulars of share transfers and financing approaches), and refused particulars that...

Court Disposition

Partial striking out of defendants' defences and grant of selected requests for further and better particulars; costs awarded to plaintiffs in specified proportions; timetable ordered for filing engrossed amended defence and for provision of particulars

Orders

• Strike out paragraph 5(f)(iii) of the defences in both actions
• Strike out paragraph 6(g)(iii), 6(i)(iii), 6(j)(iii), 6(k), 6(l), 6(m), 6(n), 6(o), 6(p), 6(q), 6(r) and sub-paragraphs 19(p) (HCA 1801/2010) and 21(p) (HCA 167/2011) as specified in the judgment