Bon Holdings Ltd V Busoga Growers Coop Union Ltd (Civil Appeal No. 224 of 2013)

Observed later treatment

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.

Holding

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that the High Court orders restoring the respondent as registered proprietor and cancelling the appellant's registration were made without affording the appellant a hearing, in breach of the right to a fair hearing under Articles 28 and 44 of the Constitution. The appellant was not a party to the suit or the application from which the orders arose. This violation was an error apparent on the face of the record that should have prompted review. The contravention of the right to a fair hearing vitiated the orders in both Miscellaneous Applications. The Court set aside the impugned rulings, directed reinstatement of the appellant's title, and ordered the underlying application be reheard before another judge.

Outcome

Appeal allowed; impugned High Court rulings set aside; appellant's title to be reinstated; underlying application remitted for hearing before another judge

Facts

In 2004 the respondent, registered proprietor of land comprised in LRV 2925 Folio 12 Plot No. 2 Bulamogi, subleased the land to the appellant, the sublease to expire in 2014 with pre-emptive purchase rights. The respondent became a judgment debtor in High Court Civil Suit No. 103 of 2006, and the land was sold in execution. The appellant acquired the lease by purchase in 2009 from Yatin Chauhan, who had succeeded the respondent as registered proprietor. Four years later, the respondent applied (Miscellaneous Application No. 408 of 2010) to set aside the execution and sale. The trial Judge found the appellant and auctioneer wrongly joined, yet set aside the execution and ordered the respondent restored as registered proprietor, cancelling the appellant's registration. The appellant's review application (Miscellaneous Application No. 488 of 2010) was refused, though its sublease and caveat were restored. The appellant, not having been heard before the cancellation, appealed.

Issues

1. Whether the trial Judge erred in refusing to review an order restoring the respondent's title when the appellant, who had been cancelled from the register, was not a party to the proceedings.
2. Whether making a final order affecting a non-party's registered title without affording a hearing constituted an error apparent on the face of the record warranting review.
3. Whether the trial Judge could lawfully cancel the appellant's registered title without applying the principles governing impeachment of title.

Orders

• The Ruling and orders in High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 408 of 2010 (Busoga Co-operative Union Limited v Dharmesh Vara) are set aside.
• The Ruling and orders in High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 488 of 2010 (Busoga Co-operative Union Limited v Dharmesh Vara) are set aside.
• High Court Miscellaneous Application No. 408 of 2010 should be fixed for hearing before another judge pursuant to Rule 32(1) of the Rules of this Court.
• The Registrar of Titles is directed to reinstate the Appellant's name on LRV 2925 Folio 12 Plot No. 2 Bulamogi and to cancel the Respondent's name therefrom so that the title reads as it did before the matters were heard, before the hearing of Miscellaneous Application No. 408 of 2010.
• Costs of the appeal to the Appellant in any event.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (4)

• Constitution of Uganda Article 28
• Constitution of Uganda Article 44(c)
• Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions Rule 30
• Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions Rule 32(1)

Cases cited (6)

• Caroline Turyatemba and Others v Attorney General (Constitutional Petition No. 15 of 2006)
• Edison Kanyabwera v Pasteri Tumwebaze (Civil Appeal No. 6 of 2004)
• Mohammed Alibhai v Bukenya Mukasa (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 56 of 1996)
• Pandya v R [1957] EA 336
• Kifamunte Henry v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1997)
• Haji Mubiakulamusa v Friends Estate Limited (Civil Appeal No. 209 of 2013)

Cases citing this judgment (1)

How later Ugandan judgments in the Wakilii corpus have cited this case. Treatment labels come from Sequitur — Uganda’s citator — each backed by a verbatim span from the citing judgment, and are not an assertion that this case is, or is not, good law.

• Nyaketcho & 2 Ors v Oboth Obuya (Civil Appeal Number 012 of 2012)

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