Wakilii

Abubaker v Principal Registrar of Crown Lands and Others (Civil Appeal No. 8 of 1953 and Miscellaneous Civil Suit No. 48 of 1952 (Consolidated))

East African Court of Appeal · [1953] EACA 51 · 1953 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Consolidated appeal from decision of Principal Registrar of Crown Lands refusing registration and case stated by Commissioners of Stamp Duties on stamp duty liability
Decision
Appeal dismissed; vesting order held liable to stamp duty and registration refused until statutory requirements met

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The court held that a vesting order is a conveyance within the meaning of both the Crown Lands Ordinance and the Stamp Ordinance. The Registrar was entitled to refuse registration until the requirements of the Municipalities Ordinance and Local Government (Rating) Ordinance were met, including production of a certificate that municipal rates had been paid. The vesting order was liable to ad valorem stamp duty as a conveyance under Article 23 of the First Schedule to the Stamp Ordinance, not as a mortgage instrument under Article 62.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; vesting order held liable to stamp duty and registration refused until statutory requirements met

Facts

The appellant was mortgagee of land in Nairobi. She obtained a court order for sale by auction and purchased the property for slightly less than the amount due. The mortgagor owed the City Council over Sh. 2,000 in rates. Under the Municipalities Ordinance and Local Government (Rating) Ordinance, no transfer could be registered without a certificate from the Town Clerk that rates had been paid. The mortgagor had no funds to obtain the certificate and could not effectively convey the premises. The appellant applied under the Trustee Ordinance for a vesting order. The Supreme Court initially refused but the Court of Appeal ordered that a vesting order should issue. When the appellant presented the vesting order for registration, the Registrar of Crown Lands impounded it as insufficiently stamped. The Senior Collector of Stamp Duties assessed duty of Sh. 2,487/50 as a conveyance. The appellant appealed both the registration refusal and the stamp duty assessment.

Issues

  1. Whether the Principal Registrar of Crown Lands was justified in refusing to register a vesting order without production of a certificate from the Town Clerk that municipal rates had been paid.
  2. Whether a vesting order obtained by a mortgagee-purchaser constitutes a 'conveyance' liable to ad valorem stamp duty under the Stamp Ordinance.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.
  • Appellant to pay costs of the appeal.
  • Appellant to pay costs of the case stated.

Rules and key headnotes

Land Registration — Vesting Orders — Requirement for Municipal Rates Clearance Certificate
A vesting order transferring title to land is a conveyance within the meaning of the Crown Lands Ordinance and the Municipalities Ordinance, and the Registrar of Crown Lands is entitled to refuse registration of such order until the requirements of those Ordinances are met, including production of a certificate that municipal rates have been paid.
Statutory Interpretation — Definition of 'Conveyance' — Common Law Meaning
Unless expressly limited by definition in a specific Act or Ordinance, the term 'conveyance' must have the general meaning which it has in common law, namely any instrument which carries from one person to another an interest in land, and this meaning is not narrowed or restricted by the Indian Transfer of Property Act.
Land Registration — Vesting Orders — Not a Separate Class of Transaction
Vesting orders do not form a separate or special class of transaction within or without the Crown Lands Ordinance, Municipalities Ordinance, or Local Government (Rating) Ordinance, and all those Ordinances apply to vesting orders in the same manner as they apply to other conveyances and transfers.
Stamp Duty — Vesting Orders — Liability as Conveyance
A vesting order obtained by a mortgagee who has purchased mortgaged property is a conveyance liable to ad valorem stamp duty under Article 23 of the First Schedule to the Stamp Ordinance, and not a mortgage instrument assessable under Article 62, where the purchaser has become sole owner by reason of the vesting order and is no longer acting as mortgagee.
Statutory Interpretation — Inclusive Definitions — Stamp Ordinance
The definition of 'conveyance' in section 2 of the Stamp Ordinance is inclusive and not exclusive, and encompasses instruments by which property is transferred inter vivos even where such instruments are not conveyances in the ordinary connotation of the word.

Legislation cited (10)

  • Crown Lands Ordinance (Cap. 155) s.126
  • Crown Lands Ordinance (Cap. 155) s.140
  • Municipalities Ordinance (Cap. 136) s.95
  • Local Government (Rating) Ordinance (Cap. 137) s.29
  • Stamp Ordinance (Cap. 259) s.2
  • Stamp Ordinance (Cap. 259) s.59
  • Stamp Ordinance (Cap. 259) s.60
  • Stamp Ordinance (Cap. 259) First Schedule Article 23
  • Stamp Ordinance (Cap. 259) First Schedule Article 62
  • Trustee Ordinance (Cap. 46) s.47

Cases cited (2)

  • In re Calcott and Elvins contract (1898) 2 Ch 460
  • Aminabhai d/o Abubaker v City Council of Nairobi (1952) 19 EACA 52

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Abubaker v Principal Registrar of Crown Lands and Others (Civil Appeal No. 8 of 1953 and Miscellaneous Civil Suit No. 48 of 1952 (Consolidated)) [1953] EACA 51 (1 January 1953)
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.