Wakilii

Thakkar v Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (MISCELLANEOUS CAUSE NO. 379 OF 2019)

High Court · [2020] UGHCCD 23 · 2020 Application Granted AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Application for judicial review seeking orders of prohibition and injunction against the respondent's investigation of a repossession certificate
Decision
Application granted with prohibition and injunction orders issued against the respondent

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

The High Court held that the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board acted illegally and ultra vires when it purported to investigate the authenticity of a repossession certificate issued by the Minister of Finance 28 years earlier. Once the Minister issues a certificate of repossession under the Expropriated Properties Act, he becomes functus officio. The Board's only recourse was to appeal to the High Court within thirty days under section 15 of the Act. The court granted orders of prohibition and injunction restraining the Board from investigating or taking any action adverse to the applicant's interests in the property.

Outcome

Application granted with prohibition and injunction orders issued against the respondent

Facts

The applicant held a certificate of repossession issued by the Minister of Finance on 28 November 1991 in respect of property comprised in Plot 2, Buremba Road, Mbarara District. The property had been expropriated during the military regime under Decrees 27 and 29 of 1972 which vested property of non-citizen Asians and Ugandan citizens of Asian origin in government. The applicant acquired partial interests in the land and continued to administer the estate of the late Mohanlal Tribhovandas Thakkar by virtue of Letters of Administration. Twenty-eight years after the certificate was issued, the Departed Asians Property Custodian Board purported to investigate the authenticity of the repossession certificate and verify documents accompanying the original application. The applicant brought a judicial review application seeking prohibition and injunction against the Board. The respondent was served but did not appear or file submissions in opposition.

Issues

  1. Whether the Respondent acted legally, rationally and improperly when it purported to investigate the authenticity of the Applicant's Repossession Certificate
  2. What remedies are available to the Applicant

Orders

  • An order of Prohibition issues against the Respondent from investigating the authenticity of the Repossession Certificate issued to the Applicant in excess of its powers.
  • An injunctive order restraining the respondent and its agents from purporting to engage in verification, investigation or any other action adverse to the interests of the applicant in respect of the suit property.
  • Application allowed with costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Administrative Law — Ultra Vires — Illegality — Exercise of Power Outside Statutory Jurisdiction
When statutory power is not vested in a decision maker, any acts made by such decision maker are ultra vires and unlawful. The courts will intervene to ensure that the powers of public decision-making bodies are exercised lawfully and within the jurisdiction conferred by statute.
Land & Property — Expropriated Properties — Certificate of Repossession — Effect and Finality
A certificate of repossession issued by the Minister of Finance under sections 5 and 6 of the Expropriated Properties Act constitutes sufficient authority for the Chief Registrar of Titles to transfer title to the former owner. The certificate clothes the holder with an equitable right over the property pending formal transfer of legal title.
Statutory Interpretation — Functus Officio — Minister's Power After Certificate Issuance
Once the Minister of Finance issues a certificate of repossession under the Expropriated Properties Act, the Minister is functus officio. The Act does not reserve in the Minister any implied power to revoke or review the decision on grounds of error. Retention of such power would perpetuate the very uncertainties about ownership which the Act intended to eliminate.
Administrative Law — Statutory Appeals — Exclusive Remedy — Time Limits
Where the Expropriated Properties Act provides under section 15 that an aggrieved person may appeal to the High Court within thirty days from the date of communication of the Minister's decision, that remedy is exclusive. An administrative body cannot circumvent the statutory appeal mechanism by purporting to investigate the authenticity of a certificate years after its issuance.
Judicial Review — Grounds — Illegality — Abuse of Power
Statutory power conferred for public purposes is conferred as if upon trust and can validly be used only in the right and proper way which Parliament is presumed to have intended. The courts assume that Parliament cannot have intended to authorise unreasonable action, which is therefore ultra vires and void.
Judicial Review — Remedies — Prohibition and Injunction
Where an administrative body is found to have acted illegally and ultra vires its statutory powers, the High Court may grant an order of prohibition restraining the body from continuing to exercise power it does not possess, and an injunctive order restraining any further unlawful action.

Legislation cited (20)

Cases cited (6)

  • Shishir Praful Patel & Another v Departed Asians Property Custodian Board & Another (HCCS No. 116 of 2017)
  • Registered Trustees of Kampala Institute v Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (SCCA No. 21 of 1993)
  • SCCA No. 14 of 2002
  • R v Lord President of the Privy Council, ex parte Page [1993] AC 682
  • Firdoshali Madatali Keshwani & Another v Departed Asians Property Custodian Board & 2 Others (Miscellaneous Cause No. 11 of 2019)
  • Jaffer Brothers Ltd v Mohammed Magid Bagalaliwo & 2 Others (Civil Appeal No. 43 of 1991)

Full judgment

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

Thakkar v Departed Asians Property Custodian Board (MISCELLANEOUS CAUSE NO. 379 OF 2019) [2020] UGHCCD 23 (26 March 2020)
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.