Key legal question
Whether the federal appeal had become moot after the appellate court granted legal aid on reconsideration.
Extracted holding
Yes. The later decision granting legal aid deprived the federal appeal of its object, so the case had to be struck from the docket.
Extracted reasoning
The reconsideration decision of 16 November 2012 resolved the contested issue. Since the matter was no longer live, the Federal Supreme Court could only discontinue the proceedings and decide costs summarily.