Wakilii

Allibhai v Bukenya & Another (Civil Appeal 56 of 1996)

Supreme Court · [1996] UGSC 17 · 1996 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal to the Supreme Court against a High Court order dismissing an application to review a consent judgment, brought by a person who was not a party to the original suit.
Decision
Appeal dismissed; the High Court's dismissal of the application for review upheld. Appellant left free to pursue his rights by an independent suit.

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Treatment recorded in citing cases followed in 12 Derived from citing cases in the Wakilii corpus — not an assertion that this case is good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions — always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that the appellant had no locus standi to apply for review of a consent judgment to which he was not a party. Although a consent judgment may be set aside for fraud, collusion or common mistake, and a stranger to proceedings may seek review where he is an 'aggrieved person' who has suffered a legal grievance, the appellant was not so aggrieved: his independent rights as registered proprietor were unaffected by the consent judgment and he remained free to pursue them by separate suit. Further, as attorney of Fazal Visram he could only sue in the donor's name, and he had applied for review before obtaining letters of administration, so lacked legal status when the application was made.

Facts

The first respondent was registered proprietor of land at Namirembe (Kibuga Block 10, Plot 175), part of which his predecessor had leased to Fazal Visram, an Asian, in 1955 for 49 years. After the 1972 expulsion of Asians, the building fell under the management of the second respondent, the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board, which allowed it to fall into serious disrepair. The first respondent sued the Board for fundamental breach of the lease, and on 24 February 1994 a consent judgment was entered recording that the property had not become expropriated property under the Expropriated Properties Act 1982, that the Board acquired no interest in it, and that the first respondent was free to re-enter. The appellant, attorney and later executor/administrator of the late Fazal Visram's estate, was not a party. He applied to review the consent judgment, claiming to be an aggrieved party; the High Court dismissed the application, and he appealed.

Issues

  1. Whether a person who was not a party to the original proceedings can apply for review of a consent judgment under sections 83 and 101 of the Civil Procedure Act and Order 42 rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
  2. Whether the appellant was an aggrieved party with locus standi to apply for review of the consent judgment.
  3. Whether the appellant, acting under a power of attorney before obtaining letters of administration, had locus standi to bring the application in his own name.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed with costs to the respondents.

Key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Review of Judgments — Locus Standi of a Non-Party — 'Aggrieved Person'
A person who was not a party to proceedings may apply for review of the resulting judgment under sections 83 and 101 of the Civil Procedure Act and Order 42 rule 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules only if he is an aggrieved person, that is, one who has suffered a legal grievance because the judgment is given against him or affects his interest.
Civil Procedure — Consent Judgments — Grounds for Setting Aside
A consent judgment may be set aside for fraud, collusion, an agreement contrary to the policy of the court, or where consent was given in misapprehension or ignorance of material facts, including a common mistake as to the law applicable to the facts, which may render the judgment void as between the parties.
Civil Procedure — Review — Effect of Consent Judgment on Stranger's Independent Rights
A stranger to a consent judgment whose own legal rights exist independently of, and are unaffected by, that judgment is not an aggrieved party entitled to review; he retains the liberty to assert those rights by an independent suit irrespective of the consent judgment.
Succession & Estates — Power of Attorney and Personal Representatives — Capacity to Sue
A person holding a power of attorney can only bring proceedings in the name of the donor, and a personal representative acquires locus standi to act for a deceased's estate only upon the grant of letters of administration; an application made before that grant is made without legal status.
Land & Property — Leases — Re-entry under the Registration of Titles Act
A lessor's exercise of a power of re-entry under a lease is regulated by sections 102 and 113 of the Registration of Titles Act and must be effected in strict compliance with those provisions and the terms of the lease, without prejudice to any accrued cause of action for breach.

Legislation cited (9)

  • Civil Procedure Act s.83
  • Civil Procedure Act s.101
  • Civil Procedure Rules Order 42 r.1(b)
  • Civil Procedure Rules Order 42 r.8
  • Expropriated Properties Act 1982 (Act 9 of 1982) s.1(1)(c)
  • Registration of Titles Act s.102
  • Registration of Titles Act s.113
  • Assets of Departed Asians Decree 1973
  • Rules of the Supreme Court r.1(3)

Cases cited (11)

  • Hirani v Kassam (1952) 19 EACA 131
  • Brooke Bond and Liebig (T) Ltd v Mallya (1975) EA 266
  • Bell v Lever Bros Ltd (1952) AC 161
  • Livingstone Sewanyana v Martin Aliker (Civil Appeal No. 4 of 1991)
  • Lutaya v Gandesi (High Court Civil Suit No. 860 of 1982)
  • The Registered Trustees of Kampala Institute v Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (Civil Appeal No. 21 of 1993)
  • In Re Nakivubo Chemists (U) Ltd and in the matter of the Companies Act (1979) HCB 12
  • Yusufu v Nokrach (1971) EA 104
  • Kawdu v Berar Ginning Co. Ltd., Akot and Others (1929) AIR Nagpur
  • Ladak Abdulla Mohamed Hussein v Griffiths Isingoma Kakiiza and others (Civil Appeal No. 8 of 1995)
  • Kajubi v Kayanja (1967) EA 301
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.