Wakilii

Said Tibazarwa v Uganda Commercial Bank (Civil Suit No. 13 of 1996)

High Court · [2001] UGCOMMC 2 · 2001 Judgment for Plaintiff AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance civil suit for recovery of funds following dishonoured cheque
Decision
Defence struck out and judgment entered for the plaintiff with interest and costs

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Where a bank defendant failed to comply with court orders to produce banker's books despite repeated extensions and contradictory explanations ranging from documents being in safe custody to being lost or destroyed, the court struck out the defence under Order 10 Rule 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules. The bank's claims of fraud at its branch and loss of documents could not be pleaded against an innocent customer. Judgment was entered for the plaintiff for the full liquidated sum claimed with interest at 22% per annum.

Outcome

Defence struck out and judgment entered for the plaintiff with interest and costs

Facts

The plaintiff was a customer of Uganda Commercial Bank at its Gaba Branch holding Account No. 00770. In August 1994, a cheque he issued for shs.47 million was dishonoured for insufficient funds despite alleged deposits of shs.73.8 million in his account at that time. The plaintiff claimed the balance of shs.52 million. The court ordered the bank to produce banker's books and documents relating to the account on 8 October 1999. Despite extensions and assurances from counsel that documents were in safe custody at the bank's head office basement archives, the bank failed to produce them. The bank's counsel withdrew citing the bank's intransigence. New counsel claimed documents were lost, stolen or destroyed due to fraud at the Gaba Branch. The plaintiff produced his own copies of deposit slips, but the bank claimed these deposits were backed by cheques from defunct banks without proof.

Issues

  1. Whether the defendant's failure to comply with court orders to produce banker's books warranted striking out of the defence.
  2. Whether the plaintiff was entitled to judgment for the sum claimed following striking out of the defence.

Orders

  • Defence written statement struck out pursuant to Order 10 Rule 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
  • Judgment entered for the plaintiff in the sum of shs.52,495,315/-.
  • Interest awarded at the rate of 22% per annum from the filing of Civil Suit No. 13/96 to payment in full.
  • Costs awarded to the plaintiff in the amount of shs.3,000,000/-.

Rules and key headnotes

Civil Procedure — Striking Out Defence — Non-Compliance with Court Orders — Order 10 Rule 21
Where a defendant fails to comply with court orders to produce documents despite repeated opportunities and extensions, the court may strike out the defence under Order 10 Rule 21 of the Civil Procedure Rules, placing the defendant in the same position as if they had not defended.
Banking & Finance — Banker's Books — Obligation to Produce — Innocent Customer Rights
A bank cannot plead its own internal deficiencies, misfortunes, or alleged fraud at its branch against an innocent customer who is not responsible for or involved in those internal shortcomings, and must produce banker's books as ordered by the court.
Evidence — Contradictory Statements — Credibility Assessment
Where a party presents directly contradictory claims through different counsel, asserting first that documents are in safe custody and later that they are non-existent, such contradictions cannot stand the party's case in good stead and undermine credibility.
Banking & Finance — Dishonoured Cheques — Inter-Bank Clearing — Time Limits
In matters of bouncing cheques, time is of the essence, and inter-bank payment reconciliation through the clearing house is a process lasting no more than 48 hours. A bank cannot raise allegations of bounced cheques from defunct banks over two years after the alleged transactions without contemporaneous evidence.
Civil Procedure — Effect of Striking Out Defence — Liquidated Demands
Where a defence is struck out under Order 10 Rule 21, the defendant is placed in the same position as if they had not defended. Where the plaintiff abandons general damages and the remaining claim is for a liquidated sum only, the claim becomes identical to a demand under Order 33 and judgment may be entered accordingly.

Legislation cited (3)

Full judgment

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

Said Tibazarwa v Uganda Commercial Bank (Civil Suit No. 13 of 1996) [2001] UGCommC 2 (1 March 2001)
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.