Wakilii

Attorney General for the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya v Jeevanjee and Others (C.C. No. 176-1935)

East African Court of Appeal · [1937] EACA 206 · 1937 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance mortgage suit for enforcement of mortgage to the Crown
Decision
Primary decree granted with order for account and sale in default of payment

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains 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 Attorney General is the proper person to sue on behalf of His Majesty at common law, apart from statutory provisions authorising other officers to do so. Section 2 of the Petitions of Right Ordinance does not limit this power but merely recognises that other officers may be authorised by special laws. Where property was conveyed to an individual who then mortgaged it to the Crown, the mortgagee was entitled to treat him as owner in the absence of information putting him on inquiry. A subsequent Certificate of Ownership under the Land Titles Ordinance is conclusive evidence of the matters stated therein.

Outcome

Primary decree granted with order for account and sale in default of payment

Facts

By mortgage dated 31 May 1921, Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee mortgaged a plot of land in Mombasa to His Majesty King George V to secure repayment of Fl. 40,000 with interest. The plot was held by the mortgagor in fee simple under a conveyance dated 10 October 1900. In 1929, a Certificate of Ownership was issued to Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, Gulamhussein Mulla Jeevanjee, Ebrahimji Mulla Jeevanjee, and Tayabali Mulla Jeevanjee, trading as A. M. Jeevanjee and Co., subject to the Crown mortgage. Interest was paid until 1931 by crediting rent from government premises in Nairobi occupied by the Government. When the Government vacated in 1931, payments ceased. A three-year moratorium was granted from 1 October 1932. The Attorney General brought suit against the original mortgagor, the registered owners, and receivers appointed in other proceedings. Tayabali Mulla Jeevanjee defended, disputing the Attorney General's right to sue and alleging the property was partnership property mortgaged without authority.

Issues

  1. Whether the Attorney General has the right to sue on behalf of His Majesty the King in a mortgage enforcement action.
  2. Whether the mortgage was validly made by Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee where the property was subsequently registered in the name of a partnership.

Orders

  • Primary decree granted in favour of the plaintiff.
  • Registrar to take an account of the sum due for principal and interest up to 27 March 1936, with interest calculated at simple interest.
  • Plaintiff to have the costs of the action.
  • In default of payment, the mortgaged premises to be sold.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Parties — Attorney General — Right to Sue on Behalf of the Crown
At common law, and apart from statutory provisions authorising some other officer or department to do so, the Attorney General is the proper person to sue on behalf of His Majesty the King.
Administrative Law — Crown Proceedings — Statutory Recognition of Attorney General's Powers
Section 2 of the Petitions of Right Ordinance does not confer upon the Attorney General any right or power which he did not possess apart from it, but merely recognises that other officers may be authorised by special laws to take proceedings on behalf of the Government and declares that proceedings may be taken either by the Attorney General or by an officer specifically authorised.
Land & Property — Mortgages — Mortgagee's Right to Rely on Title
Where premises are held under a conveyance to an individual, in the absence of information calculated to put the mortgagee upon inquiry, the mortgagee is entitled to treat that individual as owner.
Land & Property — Land Registration — Conclusiveness of Certificate of Ownership
A Certificate of Ownership issued under the Land Titles Ordinance is conclusive evidence of the matters therein stated, and the judgments of the Recorder of Titles are final unless an appeal is taken.

Legislation cited (5)

  • Petitions of Right Ordinance (Cap. 17) s.2
  • Administration of Justice Act, 1933 s.4(2)
  • Land Titles Ordinance (Cap. 143) s.7
  • Land Titles Ordinance (Cap. 143) s.21
  • Treasury Solicitor's Act, 1876

Cases cited (5)

  • R v Austen (174 ER 48)
  • Attorney General to the Prince of Wales v St Aubyn (145 ER 1215)
  • Attorney General v Corporation of London (14 LJ Ch 305)
  • Attorney General v Sutcliffe [1907] 2 KB 997
  • Attorney General v Great Southern and Western Railway (14 Ir CLR)

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

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

Attorney General for the Colony and Protectorate of Kenya v Jeevanjee and Others (C.C. No. 176-1935) [1937] EACA 206 (1 January 1937)
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.