Wakilii

Jiwanjee and Co. Ltd v Highland Commercial Union (Civil Suit No. 42 of 1952)

East African Court of Appeal · [1953] EACA 44 · 1953 Application Dismissed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application by plaintiff to amend plaint to substitute defendant's name after service and partial payment
Decision
Application dismissed with costs to defendants

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Application to amend plaint by substituting defendant's correct corporate name after service dismissed. Court held amendment sought in bad faith where plaintiff accepted substantial payment after filing suit but sought to back-date amendment without crediting payment received. Justice of case did not require amendment where only small disputed balance remained and defendant would be prejudiced.

Outcome

Application dismissed with costs to defendants

Facts

On 8 February 1952, plaintiffs filed suit for goods sold and delivered against Highland Commercial Union. On 19 February 1952, summons was accepted and stamped on behalf of Highland Commercial Union Ltd. On 26 February 1952, the company's advocates wrote stating summons had been erroneously accepted as suit was not instituted against the company, and enclosed cheque for Sh. 4,351/10 in favour of plaintiffs. Plaintiffs accepted this payment towards the claim. On 6 May 1952, plaintiffs applied to amend plaint by substituting Highland Commercial Union Ltd for Highland Commercial Union. Only a small disputed balance of approximately Sh. 650 remained after the payment. Defendants objected on grounds that plaintiffs had no remaining cause of action as claim had been paid in full.

Issues

  1. Whether the plaintiff's application to amend the name of the defendant after service and partial payment was made in good faith.
  2. Whether the justice of the case required the amendment to the defendant's name.

Orders

  • Application to amend dismissed.
  • Costs awarded to the defendants.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Amendment of Pleadings — Amendment to Defendant's Name — Bad Faith
An application to amend a plaint to substitute the correct corporate name of a defendant will be refused where the application is made in bad faith, particularly where the plaintiff seeks to back-date the amendment without giving credit for substantial payments already accepted from the defendant after the original plaint was filed.
Civil Procedure — Amendment of Pleadings — Justice of the Case
Under Order 6 rule 19 of the Civil Procedure (Revised) Rules 1948, the court will refuse an amendment where the justice of the case does not require it, particularly where allowing the amendment would gravely prejudice the defendant and leave no means of recouping the defendant with costs.

Legislation cited (1)

  • Civil Procedure (Revised) Rules 1948 Order 6 rule 19

Cases cited (2)

  • Phakey v World Wide Agencies Ltd (1948) 15 EACA 1
  • Steward v North Metropolitan Tramways Co (1886) 16 QBD 556

Full judgment

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

Jiwanjee and Co. Ltd v Highland Commercial Union (Civil Suit No. 42 of 1952) [1953] EACA 44 (1 January 1953)
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.