The Pepper Publication Limited v Stanbic Bank (U) Limited (Miscellaneous Application No. 622 of 2022)

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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

A single Justice of the Court of Appeal dismissed the respondent's preliminary objections, holding the application was neither res judicata nor an abuse of process because the earlier Civil Application No. 371 of 2021 was dismissed on a technicality and not on its merits, and the present application raised new facts. Applying the three conditions for an interim order (a competent notice of appeal, a pending substantive application, and a serious threat of execution), the Court found all satisfied and granted an interim order restraining the respondent from disposing of the loan securities pending determination of the main application.

Outcome

Interim order granted restraining disposal of loan securities pending determination of the main application; preliminary objections dismissed

Facts

The applicant sued the respondent bank in the High Court Commercial Division (Civil Suit No. 569 of 2021) alleging illegal charges and deductions from its account and seeking a refund of UGX 174,076,270 and declarations that the loan contract was unfair and unenforceable. The applicant had mortgaged land at Block 110 Plot 2388 and offered motor vehicles as collateral for loan facilities. After the respondent's agents moved to impound vehicles and threatened to sell the mortgaged land, the applicant sought injunctive relief. The trial Judge granted a temporary injunction conditional on depositing UGX 1,000,000,000. The applicant filed a notice of appeal and several applications. An earlier interim application (Civil Application No. 371 of 2021) was dismissed by Mulyagonja, JA. The applicant then filed the present application seeking an interim order to halt sale of the securities pending determination of substantive Application No. 370 of 2021.

Issues

1. Whether the application was an abuse of court process.
2. Whether the application was barred by the doctrine of res judicata.
3. Whether the applicant satisfied the conditions for the grant of an interim order of stay of execution.

Orders

• An interim order is issued prohibiting the respondent from attaching, selling or in any way disposing of the loan securities for the facility advanced to the applicant by agreements dated 8th October 2018 and 21st July 2016 pending determination of the main application.
• Costs of this application shall abide the outcome of the substantive application for an order of injunction.
• The Registrar is directed to cause Miscellaneous Application No. 370 of 2021 to be listed for hearing within 21 days, failing which the order will lapse upon expiry of the 21 days.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (3)

• Rules of the Court of Appeal rule 2(2)
• Rules of the Court of Appeal rule 6(2)(b)
• Civil Procedure Act s.7

Cases cited (5)

• Sekikubo and Others v Attorney General and Others (Constitutional Application No. 4 of 2014)
• Shumuk Properties v Guaranty Trust Bank (Civil Appeal No. 220 of 2018)
• Muwanga v Kyegune (Supreme Court Civil Appeal No. 12 of 2001)
• Mohamed and Another v Walji and Another (Supreme Court Civil Reference No. 7 of 2016)
• Hwan Sung Industries Ltd v Hussien and Others (Supreme Court Civil Application No. 19 of 2008)

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