An army officer court martialled over "argy bargy" at army headquarters in Canberra in 2010 has had his conviction overturned by the highest court in the land.
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Major Ting Li's three-year legal struggle against the military charge of "creating a disturbance" ended in the High Court on Wednesday morning when five judges overturned the officer's conviction.
The taxpayer will now be left with a legal bill that could top hundreds of thousands of dollars after the minor spat between the two bureaucrats at Russell office got out of hand.
Major Li was convicted in a court martial of causing a disturbance on army land after a discussion with a fellow officer at the Russell Office complex turned ugly in February 2010.
The confrontation, described by a witness at the court martial as a bit of argy bargy between Major Li and senior civilian Defence Force employee Andrew Snashall, was the culmination of several months of bad blood between the two men, according to the evidence.
The court martial heard Major Li confronted Mr Snashall in his fourth floor office at Campbell Park and the army officer accused the public servant of racist comments and refusing to leave the office when asked.
The row resulted in Major Li facing the Canberra military court on the little-used charge of "causing a disturbance on service land".
The officer was convicted by the court martial, which imposed a severe reprimand and a $3000 fine. His appeal against the decision to the Defence Force Discipline Appeal Tribunal failed last year.
Major Li's next appeal, to the full bench of the Federal Court, saw five judges consider whether the "argy bargy" constituted a disturbance according to the laws of military discipline.
When the court rejected Major Li's appeal in a three-five majority decision, the officer went back to the Federal Court, this time in a bid to avoid having to pay the legal costs of the Defence Department.
But the court found against him again and he sought and was granted leave to appeal to the nation's highest court.
But the High Court in Canberra has found that the prosecution failed in its obligation to prove the major intended to cause a disturbance.
The case has been sent back the military tribunal to be heard again.
