Wakilii

Gokaldas Laximidas Tanna (Civil Appeal 12 of 92)

Supreme Court · [1993] UGSC 4 · 1993 Appeal Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Civil appeal from a judgment of the High Court at Kampala (Civil Suit No. 707 of 1987)
Decision
Appeal dismissed; the sale and transfer of the expropriated property to the appellant held nullified by the Expropriated Properties Act 1982

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The suit property had been expropriated as a departed Asian's asset and vested in Government under the management of the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board. Although Uganda Commercial Bank, as mortgagee, had sold it by public auction to the appellant, the Court held that section 1 of the Expropriated Properties Act 1982 nullified any purchase, transfer or grant of such property. The sale and transfer to the appellant were therefore void. The Court further observed that parties cannot by agreement oust the court's jurisdiction to return the proper verdict, so the determinative statutory issue had to be answered regardless of the parties' agreed terms. Even if every ground of appeal succeeded, the appeal would still fail because the sale was nullified by statute.

Outcome

Appeal dismissed; the sale and transfer of the expropriated property to the appellant held nullified by the Expropriated Properties Act 1982

Facts

The suit property was originally registered in the name of Vipinchandra Dhavantal Desai, a departed Asian, and had been expropriated by Government since August 1972, coming under the control of the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board, which became its legal owner with all incumbrances. On 22 February 1982 Uganda Commercial Bank, as mortgagee of the property, advertised and sold it the same day to the appellant, executed a transfer into his name and released the mortgage. The appellant was registered as proprietor in 1984. His registration was later cancelled and then restored by court order. At the relevant time the property was occupied by the first respondent as a tenant of the Board. The first respondent refused to recognise the appellant's claim of ownership. The Board contended that the transaction between the Bank and the appellant was nullified by the Expropriated Properties Act 1982 and that the property remained vested in Government.

Issues

  1. Whether the sale and transfer of expropriated departed-Asian property by Uganda Commercial Bank as mortgagee was nullified by section 1 of the Expropriated Properties Act 1982.
  2. Whether parties may by agreement bind the court to enter judgment without the court determining a live legal issue on the pleadings and facts.

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed.

Rules and key headnotes

Expropriated Properties Act 1982 — Section 1 — Nullification of dealings in expropriated departed-Asian property
Section 1 of the Expropriated Properties Act 1982 nullifies any purchase, transfer or grant of property that was expropriated as a departed Asian's asset, so a mortgagee's sale and transfer of such property is void and conveys no good title.
Jurisdiction — Agreement of parties — Cannot oust court's duty to decide the real issue
Parties cannot by agreement oust the jurisdiction of the court to return the proper verdict on the pleadings and facts; a judgment entered on agreed terms is incorrect in law where it leaves a determinative legal issue unanswered.
Mortgagee's power of sale — Expropriated property — Effect of statutory nullification on appeal
Where the disposition of property is nullified by the Expropriated Properties Act 1982, an appeal challenging only the regularity of the mortgagee's sale must fail, since even a valid exercise of the power of sale cannot survive statutory nullification of the transaction.

Legislation cited (5)

Full judgment

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

Gokaldas Laximidas Tanna (Civil Appeal 12 of 92) [1993] UGSC 4 (11 January 1993)
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.