The general proposition that security for costs ought not to be ordered where a counterclaim is defensive in nature is not a rule of law and does not automatically preclude an order; the court retains a discretion to be exercised by reference to the justice of the case. A court may make a piecemeal order for security for costs, requiring security up to a particular stage and adjourning the balance of the application. An application for security for costs filed in one action does not extend to counterclaims raising different causes of action in a consolidated action.
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