ECC 3039/2001

This case involved contracts to sell land and the transfer of title to the land in a property chain. One individual who had purchased the land within the chain claimed the contract was fabricated. The court was wrong to ignore this evidence on the basis he was not a party to the proceedings as he had a legal interest in it as a purchaser.

Background

A claimant filed a case against defendants and requested the court to validate sales contracts dated 15/10/1981, 09/09/1982 and 20/10/1981. The claimant stated that she bought the disputed land according to a contract dated on 09/09/1982 from the second defendant who in turn bought it from the latest defendant according to the contract dated 15/10/1981. The claimant stated that the seller had refused to take action to transfer the ownership of the land to her.

A defendant intervened in the case and requested the court to validate his ownership of the disputed land.

The court rejected the intervention and ruled the sale contracts should be validated.

The intervened defendant appealed the ruling before the court of appeal. The court rejected the appeal and upheld the appealed ruling.

Decision