Wakilii

Das Agro Process Limited v Wampande (Miscellaneous Application 186 of 2023)

High Court · [2024] UGHC 244 · 2024 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for leave to appeal out of time and stay of execution arising from a ruling of Lugazi Chief Magistrate's Court
Decision
Application allowed. Applicant granted leave to appeal out of time with execution stayed pending appeal subject to security for costs.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court granted leave to the applicant to file an appeal out of time and stayed execution of the lower court decree. The court found that the applicant's former lawyers' negligence in failing to notify the applicant of the ruling date constituted sufficient cause. The preliminary objection challenging the validity of the supporting affidavit was overruled as insufficient evidence existed to declare it defective. Stay of execution was granted to prevent the appeal from being rendered nugatory, conditional on the applicant depositing security for costs.

Outcome

Application allowed. Applicant granted leave to appeal out of time with execution stayed pending appeal subject to security for costs.

Facts

The applicant was respondent in Lugazi Chief Magistrate's Court Misc. Cause No. 19 of 2020. Ruling was delivered on 7 October 2022. The applicant's former lawyers attended but failed to inform the applicant of the ruling. The applicant only learned of the ruling in January 2023 when served with a demand letter for UGX 27,680,000. By then, the 30-day appeal period had expired. The applicant's subsequent attempts to obtain leave to appeal out of time through different lawyers were dismissed due to procedural errors by those lawyers. The respondent opposed the application, arguing the applicant had been aware of proceedings throughout and deliberately delayed.

Issues

  1. Whether the affidavit in support of the application is fatally and incurably defective.
  2. Whether there is sufficient cause shown by the Applicant to warrant enlargement of time to file a memorandum of appeal in Miscellaneous Cause No. 19 of 2020.
  3. Whether this is a proper case for stay of execution.

Orders

  • Preliminary objection overruled.
  • Application allowed.
  • The Applicant is granted leave to file its appeal out of time within 7 days from the date of this ruling.
  • The Applicant shall serve the Respondent's counsel with the appeal within 7 days of filing the appeal.
  • Execution of the lower court decree in Miscellaneous Cause No. 19 of 2020 is stayed pending determination of the intending appeal.
  • Stay of execution is conditional on the Applicant depositing in court a security for costs of UGX 20,000,000.
  • Each party shall bear their own costs of this application.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Preliminary Objections — Requirements for Raising Point of Law
A preliminary objection raises a pure point of law which is argued on the assumption that all facts pleaded by the other side are correct. It cannot be raised if any fact has to be ascertained or if what is sought is extrinsic evidence of judicial direction.
Evidence — Affidavits — Validity — Requirement for Personal Appearance Before Commissioner for Oaths
It is a mandatory legal requirement that a deponent must personally appear before a Commissioner for Oaths and take oath on the contents of his or her affidavit for it to be valid. Where any of the steps in the process of deposition is lacking, the purported deposition is invalid for being incomplete and is unlawful.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Sufficient Cause — Negligence of Counsel
A mistake, negligence, oversight or error on the part of counsel should not be visited on the litigant. Such mistake constitutes just cause entitling the trial judge to use discretion so that the matter is considered on its merits. However, the allegation of inadvertence, mistake or negligence of counsel must be true and genuine.
Civil Procedure — Extension of Time — Discretion of Court — Exercise of Powers Under Section 96 of Civil Procedure Act
Where any period fixed or granted by the court for doing any act has expired, the court has discretion to enlarge that period. Before leave is granted to perform an act outside the required timeline, sufficient cause must first be shown. Courts should be flexible to intervene and exercise discretionary powers to grant such remedies as deemed appropriate where sufficient cause is established.
Civil Procedure — Stay of Execution — Purpose and Grounds for Grant
An application for stay of execution pending appeal is designed to preserve the subject matter in dispute so that the right of the appellant who is exercising his undoubted rights of appeal are safeguarded and the appeal, if successful, is not rendered nugatory. Where there is a serious threat of execution before the hearing of a pending appeal, the court has power to intervene for purposes of serving substantive justice.
Civil Procedure — Stay of Execution — Conditions Under Order 43 Rule 4(3)
No order for stay of execution shall be made unless the court is satisfied that substantial loss may result to the party applying unless the order is made, that the application has been made without unreasonable delay, and that security has been given by the applicant for the due performance of the decree as may ultimately be binding upon him.

Legislation cited (11)

Cases cited (7)

  • Mukisa Biscuit Manufacturing Co. Ltd v West End Distributors [1969] EA 696
  • Musa Nsimbe v Joseph Nanjubi & Others (HCMA No. 23 of 2014)
  • Engineer Ephraim Turinawe & Anor v Molly Kyalimpa Turinawe (SCCA No. 1 of 2012)
  • Jamba Soita Ali v David Salaam (HCCS No. 0400 of 2005)
  • Banco Arabe Espanol v Bank of Uganda (SCCA No. 8 of 1998)
  • Sabiiti Kachope and 3 Others v Margaret Kamuje (Supreme Court Civil Application No. 31 of 1997)
  • Lawrence Musiitwa Kyazze v Eunice Busingye (SCCA No. 18 of 1990)

Full judgment

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

Das Agro Process Limited v Wampande (Miscellaneous Application 186 of 2023) [2024] UGHC 244 (24 April 2024)
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.