Bhatia v Toor: CA 2 May 2012

The defendant appealed against a finding that he had borrowed and failed to repay a sum from the respondent.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘I cannot accept that the consequence of there being unreliable features in both parties’ accounts was that the judge was obliged to abandon their evidence entirely and resolve the case by reference to other material. A trial judge is not infrequently faced with the delicate task of picking his or her way through a witness’s evidence in order to sift the reliable from the unreliable. It is no surprise that Judge Walden-Smith here took the view that the defendant had made ‘significant changes’ in his core account as to what the andpound;40,000 payment was for and that that materially damaged his credibility. She did not ignore the fact that the claimant had denied the interest that the draft documents showed that he in fact had in investing in the company but she accepted, as she was entitled to do having seen the claimant giving evidence, that there were other respects in which he was telling the truth.’

Judges:

Arden, Toulson, Black LJJ

Citations:

[2012] EWCA Civ 565

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Contract

Updated: 13 October 2022; Ref: scu.454063