Sushila Ghusala v Manilal Lolita and Others (Civil Suit No. 89 of 1995)

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 held that a sublessee's obligation to pay ground rent must reflect the statutory rent assessments made by the controlling authority, not merely the historical rate fixed in the original sublease agreement. It would be unreasonable and unconscionable for the sublessee to pay only the 1933 rate while the headlessee bears the burden of substantially increased statutory ground rent. The plaintiff was ordered to pay 25% of whatever ground rent is assessed by the local authority, and to bear the costs of the suit.

Outcome

Judgment entered in terms agreed between parties with costs awarded to defendants

Facts

The plaintiff, Sushila Ghusala, an executor of the estate of the late Ghusalal Khinji, was the registered proprietor of a sublease over Plots 6/6A Market Street (LRV 26 Folio 2 and sub-leasehold Register Volume I Folio 24). The sublease, created in 1912 for 99 years, required payment of yearly ground rent of Shs. 53/75 payable half-yearly. The plaintiff was expelled from Uganda in 1972 during the Asian exodus and later returned with a Repossession Certificate. When she sought to meet her rent obligations, the fifth defendant (acting as agent for the first four defendants who were the headlessees) demanded payment of US$500, representing 25% of the revised ground rent assessed by Kampala City Council. The plaintiff tendered only Shs. 107/50 (representing two years at the 1933 rate) and refused to pay the increased amount. The defendants threatened re-entry. The plaintiff paid the full assessed rent directly to Kampala City Council instead of reimbursing the headlessees as required by the sublease structure. The parties eventually agreed on the substantive terms but left the question of costs to the court.

Issues

1. Whether the plaintiff was liable to pay 25% of the original rent reserved in the sublease (Shs. 53/75) or 25% of the ground rent as revised from time to time by the Kampala City Council.
2. Whether the plaintiff's direct payment to Kampala City Council rather than to the defendants precipitated the dispute.
3. Which party should bear the costs of the suit.

Orders

• The plaintiff shall meet 25% of whatever ground rent is assessed by the local authority to be paid by the defendants.
• The defendants will not make a re-entry on the suit land.
• The plaintiff shall pay the costs of the suit.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (1)

• Public Lands Act

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.

• Ghusalal v Manmilal Raja and Others (Civil Appeal No. 52 of 2000)

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