Mitora Pte Ltd v Agritrade International (Pte) Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Choo Han Teck J
• Judgment Date: 30 August 2012
• Neutral Citation: [2012] SGHC 178
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Docket Number: Suit No 535 of 2010 (Registrar’s Appeals Nos 322 and 323 of 2011)
• Year: 2012
• Published date: 17 September 2012
• Hearing Date: 04 April 2012,04 July 2012,05 March 2012,16 May 2012,02 July 2012,25 June 2012,23 May 2012
• Plaintiff Counsel: Walter Ferix Justine and Ravi Muthusamy (Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP)
• Defendant Counsel: Kelly Yap Ming Kwang, Kamini Thillainathan, Morgan Chng, Low Xiu Hui (Oon & Bazul LLP)
• Subject Matter: Civil Procedure,Striking out
• Citation: [2012] SGHC 178

Choo Han Teck J:

Suit 535 of 2010 is the plaintiff-appellant’s claim against the defendant-respondent for a debt of US$625,000 that was assigned to the plaintiff pursuant to a written assignment dated 9 April 2010 (the “Deed of Assignment”) between the plaintiff and Senamas Far East Inc (“Senamas”), a company incorporated in Japan.

Pursuant to the orders of the Learned Assistant Registrar (“AR”) Sngeeta Devi on 26 May 2011 (“the 26 May 2011 order”), the plaintiff was to file and serve a supplementary list of documents by 10 June 2011 containing the following documents: (a) All documents, including but not limited to correspondence exchanged between Takeshi Sawanobori and/or Senamas and the defendant, payment vouchers, invoices and receipts, in relation to Senamas’ and/or Takeshi Sawanobori’s visits to Indonesia; (b) All correspondence exchanged between Takeshi Sawanobori and/or Senamas and the defendant and/or Taiheiyo Cement Corporation in relation to the shipment on board “MV Clipper Lagoon”, including but not limited to email, letters, faxes, SMS and communications sent via instant messaging clients (such as MSN messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Blackberry Messenger, Googlechat and Skype) (hereinafter referred to as “Instant Messaging Clients”); (c) All correspondence exchanged between Takeshi Sawanobori and/or Senamas and the following companies in relation to the promotion of the sale of the defendant’s coal to the Japanese / Korean market, including but not limited to email, letters, faxes, SMS and communications sent via Instant Messaging Clients; (i) Taihieyo Kouhatsu Inc.; (ii) Sumitomo Corporation; (iii) Bussan Sumisho Carbon Energy Co Ltd; (iv) Eneos (Nippon Oil Corporation); (v) JOMO (Japan Energy); (vi) J-Power; (vii) JFE Shoji Trade Corporation. (d) All correspondence exchanged between Takeshi Sawanobori and/or Senamas and JFE Trading Co Ltd between 2005 to 2010, including but not limited to email, letters, faxes, SMS and communications sent via Instant Messaging Clients; (e) Senamas’ Income Tax Statements for the years 2005 to 2010; (f) Senamas’ monthly bank statements from April 2005 to April 2010 (both months inclusive); (g) Senamas’ financial statements for the years 2005 to 2010, including but not limited to their financial reports, audited accounts, balance sheets and profit and loss statements; (h) All documents evidencing the incorporation and/or purposes of incorporation of Senamas, including but not limited to the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The plaintiff failed to comply with the 26 May 2011 order. Upon the defendant’s application in Summons No (“SUM”) 2571 of 2011 filed on 13 June 2011 and pursuant to...