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HCAL 453/2020
[2025] HKCFI 2290
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 453 of 2020
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Sekh Abbas Ali |
Applicant |
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and
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Torture Claims Appeal Board /
Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office
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Putative Respondent |
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and
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Director of Immigration
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Putative Interested Party |
Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review
NOTIFICATION of the Judge’s decision (Ord. 53 r. 3)
Following:
Order by Deputy High Court Judge Levy:
1. The Form 86 is amended on the court’s own motion.
2. The Leave Application be dismissed.
Observations for the Applicant:
Introduction
1. By prescribed Form 86 filed on 19 March 2020, the applicant applied for leave to apply for judicial review (“Leave Application”). The intended judicial review was against the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board / the Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office (“Board”) dated 16 March 2020 (“Board’s Decision”) dismissing the applicant's appeal against a decision of the Director of Immigration (“Director”) dated 10 September 2018 (“Director’s Decision”) rejecting the applicant's non-refoulement claim on all applicable grounds. The Board’s Decision can be viewed at the following hyperlink:
https://legalref.judiciary.hk/doc/judg/html/vetted/other/en/2020/HCAL000453_2020_files/the_Board's_Decision.pdf
2. In his Form 86, the applicant named the Director and the Adjudicator of the Board as the proposed respondents and did not name any interested party. As the Board should have been the proper respondent and the Director the proper interested party, the Form 86 will be accordingly amended on the court’s own motion.
3. The basis of the applicant’s claim is that he would be harmed or killed by his wife’s lover because he refused to divorce her. The Board’s reasoning and findings were set out in detail in the Board’s Decision and it is not necessary for me to repeat them. Unless otherwise specified, I shall also adopt the Board’s abbreviations and descriptions stated in the Board’s Decision.
4. At the applicant’s request for a hearing of the Leave Application, this court scheduled a hearing on 23 April 2025. The applicant attended the hearing in person. After having heard from him, this court informed him that the decision would be reserved, and be sent to his updated address.
Discussion
5. The Leave Application operates as a ‘filtering’ process and there is no requirement or expectation to give elaborate reasons for my decision.[1] It is sufficient to state my observations after considering the Board’s Decision and the applicant’s materials adduced.
6. In a proper Form 86, an applicant is required to identify the grounds of judicial review clearly and succinctly[2], and further to make full and frank disclosure of all material facts to be verified by an affidavit.
7. In his Form 86, the applicant stated that the Board’s Decision was unreasonable and unfair, including its assessment as whether to accept his explanations. He also asserted that insufficient importance or weight was given to state acquiescence. The applicant stated that the Board put too much reliance on country of origin information (“COI”) but failed to take into account his personal background and experience. The applicant further stated that though the Director listed relevant COI that supported the applicant’s belief that the police in India would not be able to protect him, such COI was not considered or given enough weight. In addition, the applicant complained of an unfair attitude by the Director, a failure to meet the required high standards of fairness, and a failure to take into account the nexus of political parties and official corruption. However, he did not provide any particulars in support of his grounds.
8. At the hearing, this court asked the applicant whether he had any further grounds he wished to submit in support of the Leave Application. The applicant stated that he had nothing to add or elaborate on his grounds. He only wishes to rely on the documents he had filed.
9. As the Courts have repeatedly stated, a finding of fact is exclusively within the realm of the Board, which a court in a judicial review will not interfere with unless such finding involved an error of law, procedural unfairness or irrationality.[3] In the present case, whilst the Board found that the applicant’s wife or her lover had made threats to the applicant, it however did not accept that they had any genuine intention to carry out those threats. This is because the Board found that they had adequate opportunities to seriously harm or kill the applicant but did not do so. Moreover, the Board found that his repeated returns to India are inconsistent with any genuine fear of harm. The Board thus concluded that there is no real risk of harm and rejected his appeal. These are findings of fact, which the court in a judicial review will not interfere with, subject to there being any public law errors.
10. Bearing in mind the enhanced standard that should be adopted in scrutinizing the Board’s Decision, this court is satisfied that the Board correctly applied the law relating to all the grounds and observed a high standard of fairness. The grounds the applicant advanced are either vague or unrelated to the Board’s Decision. The applicant has not shown any errors of law or procedural unfairness or irrationality in the Board’s Decision. The applicant’s intended challenge to the Board’s Decision is not reasonably arguable with realistic prospects of success such that would enable this court to grant leave[4].
Application to Withdraw
11. After the hearing, the Removal Assessment and Litigation (Removal and Deportation) Section of the Immigration Department faxed to the court a letter dated 22 May 2015, informing the court that the applicant wanted to withdraw “all non-refoulement claim including any appeal/judicial review and willingness of return to the home country”. Enclosed with this fax is a form completed by the applicant, confirming his withdrawal.
12. Apart from the application to withdraw the Leave Application, there is nothing outstanding in this action. In the circumstances, I make an order to dismiss the Leave Application, and hereby order the dismissal of the Leave Application: see Re Manik Md Mahamudun Nabi [2022] HKCA 471, Ngo Xuan Tuyen v Torture Claims Appeal Board [2024] HKCA 1140.
Order
13. The Form 86 is amended on the court’s own motion.
14. The Leave Application be dismissed.
Dated the 6th day of June 2025
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( Alfred CHAN )
for Registrar, High Court |
Where leave to apply has been granted, Applicants and their legal advisers are reminded of their obligation to reconsider the merits of their application in the light of the Respondent’s evidence
Notes for the Applicant:
If leave has been granted, the Applicant or the Applicant’s solicitors must:
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a) serve on the respondent and such interested parties as may be directed by the Court the order granting leave and any directions given within 14 days after the leave was granted (Order 53, rule 4A);
b) issue the originating summons within 14 days after the grant of leave and serve it in accordance with Order 53, rule 5; and
c) supply to every other party copies of every affidavit which the Applicant proposes to use at the hearing, including the affidavit in support of the application for leave (Order 53, rule 6(5)).
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Sent to the Applicant
on 6/6/2025
Sekh Abbas Ali
Applicant’s ref. no:
Nil
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Sent to the Putative Respondent / the Putative Respondent’s solicitors / such Putative Interested Parties as may be directed by the Court / the Putative Interested Parties’ solicitors on 6/6/2025
Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-refoulement Claims Petition Office
Putative Respondent’s ref. no.:
USM 13557/18/9/318/IN2681
Director of Immigration
Putative Interested Party’s ref. no.: QA T/C 3337/18 (formerly RBCZ10353/15) (T6I121)
Department of Justice,
Senior Assistant Law Officer
(Civil Law)
(Civil Litigation Unit 2)
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Form CALL-1
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