The Master dismissed the plaintiff's application for leave to issue a subpoena to produce documents before any defence had been filed, finding the plaintiff failed to articulate a legitimate forensic purpose for the documents sought and failed to demonstrate exceptional circumstances as required by O 36B r 2(2D) RSC. The Court was not persuaded that the desire to shore up a potentially defective pleading or to short-circuit anticipated strike-out applications constituted exceptional circumstances, particularly where pre-action discovery had been available but not pursued.
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