Ferguson had sent Ajaka detailed questions in an email,and he brought the court action several days later when he saw a promo for60 Minutes.
The cosmetic surgeon initially obtained a court order for the stories to be handed over,howeverthis was defeated in the Court of Appeal on Wednesday. Ajaka’s lawyers then launched fresh action again seeking to inspect the drafts.
On Thursday,Justice Stephen Rothmandismissed the second application and ordered Ajaka to pay the media organisations’ costs.
Rothman invoked Charles Dickens’ famous quote “the law is an ass – an idiot” and said if Dickens was not dead,“the controversy now before the court” could form a sequel to one of his works.
He said he had not been informed when he allowed Ajaka to withdraw his original application that a second application would be filed immediately afterwards. However,Justice Rothman said,it was open to a party to apply for the same remedy twice once jurisdictional facts had been established.
Justice Rothman said preliminary discovery of material can be granted if the court is satisfied of several things,including that an applicant does not have enough information to determine if they will sue or not.
He said Ajaka’s first attempt to inspect the drafts,in May,showed he did have enough information in his possession to commence proceedings,with no evidence of a change of mind in the meantime. As a result of this,Rothman said,Ajaka’s application was dismissed.