Court dismisses BOU case against Sudhir

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The High Court Commercial Division has dismissed the  Crane Bank (in Receivership) suit against Sudhir Ruparelia and Meera Investments, with Justice David Wangutusi ruling that they have no legal basis to sue.

The judge dismissed the suit on Monday over lack of legal basis to sue and ordered Bank of Uganda (BOU), that he said instituted the suit, to pay costs to the businessman, who had been accused of taking Shs397b out of the financial institution in fraudulent transactions and land title transfers.

Court ruled that a bank in receivership, under the Financial Institutions Act (2004) is not permitted to sue or be sued, and therefore, Crane Bank (in receivership) cannot and should not have sued businessman Sudhir Ruparelia and his Meera Investments.

In the ruling, the judge also said that Crane Bank (in receivership) being foreign owned, cannot own free-land in Uganda and therefore has no legal basis to sue for land it cannot own.

At stake are 48 branches that Crane Bank (in receivership) had wanted to repossess, and whose land titles are in the hands of DFCU that took over the bank.

History

The ruling arises out of an application by which the Sudhir and Meera Investments sought to dismiss Civil Suit No.493 of 2017 that had been instituted by the Crane Bank (in receivership) against the applicant. It was averred by Sudhir that the respondent didn’t have locus standi to institute the suit; that the suit did not disclose a cause of action and that the suit was barred in law.

The Court held that the Crane Bank (in receivership) did not have jurisdiction to file HCCS No.493 of 2017. It was further held that the suit was barred in law rendering the Plaintiff/ Respondent with no cause of action against the 2nd Applicant.

CASE ALERT: The High Court Commercial Division has dismissed with costs the @BOU_Official and Crane Bank (In Receivership) case worth USD100M against Sudhir Rupareila. Kudos to the @KAAdvocates litigation team.@BruceMusinguziK @elisonk @KabatsiPeter and Joseph Matsiko.

— KAA (Kampala Associated Advocates) (@KAAdvocates) August 26, 2019

FULL RULING HERE

FULL RULING Sudhir Ruparelia & Anor vs Crane Bank Limited by The Independent Magazine on Scribd