The Court of Appeal has dismissed Mohammad Shoaib’s appeal against a High Court refusal to extend the time for him to issue and serve a judicial review motion against the Medical Council.
In a judgment delivered by Ms Justice Irvine on 4 October 2016, the court said the proposed judicial review remedies had become moot. It found no basis to interfere with the High Court’s exercise of discretion.
Mr Shoaib had received leave in October 2014 to seek orders restraining the Council’s fitness-to-practise inquiry, excluding certain evidence from its consideration, and preventing the Council from applying to suspend his registration under section 60 of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007. The inquiry had begun on 3 September 2014. The President of the High Court suspended his registration on 26 September.
Mr Shoaib said he served papers on the Council on 3 October and later placed documents in the High Court Central Office drop-in box. He believed he had complied with the order granting leave, or that any failure was not his fault. The Council did not dispute receiving the papers, but said its solicitors emailed him on 5 November to explain that the motion had not been issued and no hearing would be listed for 24 November. Mr Shoaib said he had left Ireland for Bangladesh on 1 November and did not receive that email.
The inquiry concluded on 26 January 2015, and its committee report issued two days later. The Council later cancelled Mr Shoaib’s registration, effective from 21 May 2015. He sought an extension of time shortly before a Council meeting scheduled for that date. The High Court refused the application, citing the absence of a live issue, among other reasons.
The Court of Appeal said it was not necessary to decide who was responsible for the failure to issue the motion. By the time Mr Shoaib sought an extension, the inquiry was over, so an injunction to stop it could no longer be granted; the request to exclude evidence from the inquiry was also moot. The section 60 suspension order had already been made before his application for leave, and the judgment said it could not be challenged by judicial review in the High Court. Mr Shoaib had not appealed that order.
The court noted that Mr Shoaib had separately begun proceedings to appeal the committee’s findings and the Council’s sanction. It dismissed the appeal, leaving the High Court refusal in place.