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Benlavi Investments Limited v Ghats Co (U) Limited [2026] UGHC 589

High Court · 2026 Appeal Struck Out AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal from Deputy Registrar's decision dismissing application for temporary injunction
Decision
Appeal struck out for being filed out of time without leave of court

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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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 High Court struck out an appeal from a Deputy Registrar's decision for being filed outside the seven-day statutory period prescribed under Section 79(1)(b) of the Civil Procedure Act without obtaining leave of court. The court held that compliance with statutory timelines for appeals is a substantive jurisdictional requirement, not a mere procedural technicality, and that once an appeal is filed outside the statutory period without leave, the appellate court lacks jurisdiction to entertain it.

Outcome

Appeal struck out for being filed out of time without leave of court

Facts

The Appellant filed Civil Suit No. 1034 of 2024 against the Respondent for breach of a tenancy agreement concerning Plot 75, LRV 215, Folio 13, Jinja Road. The Appellant then filed Miscellaneous Application No. 1766 of 2024 seeking a temporary injunction to restrain the Respondent from evicting it from the suit premises. On 12 February 2025, the Deputy Registrar dismissed the application for temporary injunction and permitted the Respondent to re-enter the premises. Dissatisfied with this ruling, the Appellant filed Miscellaneous Appeal No. 0025 of 2025 on 7 April 2025, seeking to set aside the Deputy Registrar's decision. The Respondent objected that the appeal was filed out of time without seeking leave of court.

Issues

  1. Whether the appeal was filed within the statutory time limit prescribed under Section 79(1)(b) of the Civil Procedure Act.
  2. Whether leave of court was required and obtained to file the appeal out of time.
  3. Whether the court had jurisdiction to entertain the appeal filed outside the statutory period without leave.

Orders

  • Appeal struck out.
  • Costs awarded to the Respondent.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Appeals — Time Limits — Statutory Compliance
An appeal from a Registrar's order must be filed within seven days of the order as prescribed by Section 79(1)(b) of the Civil Procedure Act, and where an appeal is not filed within this period, leave of court must be sought to file the appeal out of time.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Jurisdiction — Effect of Non-Compliance with Time Limits
Compliance with statutory timelines governing appeals is not a mere procedural technicality but a substantive requirement going to the jurisdiction of the appellate court, and once an appeal is filed outside the statutory period without leave of court, the appellate court lacks jurisdiction to entertain it.
Civil Procedure — Appeals — Right of Appeal — Statutory Conditions
The right to appeal is a creature of statute, and a party who seeks to avail himself or herself of the right of appeal must strictly comply with the conditions prescribed by the statute.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (2)

  • Alinyo v R [1974] EA 544
  • Hamam Singh Bhogal t/a Hamam Singh & Co v Javda Karsan (1953) 20 EACA 17

Full judgment

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

Benlavi Investments Limited v Ghats Co (U) Limited 2026 UGHC 589 (15 May 2026)
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.