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Citation
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Judgment date
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| March 2025 |
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Late‑filed, unpleaded newspaper documents were inadmissible; late production requires prior leave and good cause.
Civil procedure – production of documentary evidence – Order XIII r.1–2: documents to be produced by final pre‑trial; late production requires prior leave and good cause; unpleaded and unserved documents inadmissible; s.51(1) Land Disputes Courts Act grants limited discretion to admit evidence worthy of belief but not to the prejudice of other parties.
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29 March 2025 |
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Whether the Land Division has jurisdiction over a contractual dispute about sale and repossession involving the applicant.
Jurisdiction – Land Division – Whether disputes grounded in contractual sale agreements and performance obligations constitute land disputes under the Land Act (s.167). Contract v. land dispute – Repossession/possession claims arising from sale agreements assessed by the cause of action and reliefs sought. Interim reliefs – Orders compelling administrative acts (Government Control Number) characterized as contractual remedies, not land matters.
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28 March 2025 |
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Extension of time granted due to misunderstanding with counsel, considered a valid ground in Tanzanian law.
Land law - Application for extension of time - Sufficient cause required for delay - Misunderstanding with counsel as a legitimate reason.
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28 March 2025 |
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Non-joinder of the municipal council that issued the residential permit rendered the tribunal proceedings incompetent.
Land law – Non-joinder – Necessary party – Municipal council issuing residential permit – Competence of proceedings – Nullity of tribunal decision – Revision, quash and set aside.
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28 March 2025 |
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Non‑joinder of a necessary municipal party renders land tribunal proceedings incompetent and its decision null and void.
Land law — Necessary party; Joinder — Failure to join municipal council which issued residential licence; Competence — Non‑joinder renders DLHT proceedings incompetent and null and void; Relief — Orders and decision quashed; Parties restored.
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28 March 2025 |
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Application for Mareva injunction dismissed as overtaken by events where respondents lawfully control and leased the property.
Civil procedure – Interim injunctions – Mareva injunction – Whether injunctive relief appropriate where property is under receivership and in possession of respondent. Property law – Possession and control – Effect of receivership and bona fide leases on interim relief. Procedural – Application overtaken by events – discretion to refuse injunction.
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28 March 2025 |
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28 March 2025 |
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An application was struck out due to a supporting affidavit containing arguments instead of facts, rendering it incompetent.
Civil Procedure – Affidavits – requirement for affidavits to contain only facts within deponent’s personal knowledge – effect of including arguments and legal conclusions – application struck out for fatally defective affidavit.
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28 March 2025 |
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Registered certificate of title and expert surveyor evidence outweighed unproved sale and possession; appeal dismissed.
Land law – Ownership – Evidentiary weight of registered Certificate of Title versus prior possession; sale agreement evidence; expert land surveyor evidence; witnesses' oath/affirmation; assessors' opinion recording and compliance with tribunal regulations.
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28 March 2025 |
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Leave granted to prosecute a representative land suit after proof of common interest and signed authorization by villagers.
Representative suit — Order 1 Rule 8(1) CPC; leave to sue on behalf of numerous persons; evidence of common interest and mandate; adequacy of meeting minutes and signatures; particulars of land not fatal at leave stage.
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28 March 2025 |
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Court struck out case for failure to join deceased seller's legal representative, a necessary party.
Civil Procedure – Necessary Party – Joinder of Parties – Legal Representative of Deceased Seller – Proactive Court Role.
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28 March 2025 |
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The Land Division of the High Court lacks jurisdiction to grant extensions for judicial review applications.
Jurisdiction – High Court Land Division – Power to grant extension of time – Application for leave to file judicial review – Whether judicial review lies within Land Division’s jurisdiction.
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28 March 2025 |
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Failure to join land authorities in a surveyed/allocation dispute renders proceedings null and requires fresh suit.
Land law – surveyed and allocated land – necessity to join Director of Survey and Mapping, Commissioner for Lands and local council as parties when dispute involves survey/allocation. Civil procedure – necessary parties – failure to join necessary parties in land disputes renders proceedings, judgment and decree a nullity. Land Disputes Courts Act s.43(1)(b) – annulment of proceedings for procedural fatal irregularity.
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28 March 2025 |
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Default accelerates the outstanding balance into a lump sum; prior payments must be credited and indefinite civil detention is unlawful.
Civil procedure – execution of consent decree – Interpretation of acceleration clause on default – Credit for prior payments – Civil imprisonment – Detention period must comply with section 46 of the Civil Procedure Code – Revisionary jurisdiction to quash execution and detention orders.
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27 March 2025 |
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Applicant’s failure to account for each day of delay warranted dismissal of extension to set aside an ex parte judgment.
Land law – extension of time – application to set aside ex parte judgment – requirement to account for each day of delay; alleged non-service of summons – issue to be raised in substantive setting-aside application; illegality to justify extension must be apparent on the face of the record; right to be heard procedural challenge premature in extension proceedings.
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27 March 2025 |
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27 March 2025 |
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Decree holder’s application for arrest as civil prisoners granted for contumacious resistance to execution and non-payment.
Civil procedure – Execution by arrest and detention under s.42(c) and Order XXI Rule 10(2)(j)(iii); service on advocates and sufficiency of appearance; omission of some judgment debtors not fatal; apportionment of decretal liability is for the court; Order XXI Rule 39(2) prerequisites — contumacious conduct, concealment or refusal to pay.
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27 March 2025 |
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Application to set aside dismissal struck out because supporting affidavit contained impermissible legal arguments.
Civil Procedure — Affidavits — Prohibition of legal arguments or conclusions in affidavits — Order XIX Rule 3(2) Civil Procedure Code — Incompetent affidavit renders application incurably defective — Application to set aside dismissal struck out with costs; Ex parte Matovu applied.
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27 March 2025 |
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Ownership of property is apportioned based on familial contributions and documentation in a mother-daughter land dispute.
Land law - ownership dispute - familial contributions - documentary evidence - equitable interests in property
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27 March 2025 |
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Appeal dismissed: extension cured delay; challenges to locus, valuation and evidence lacked merit.
Land law — appeals — extension of time to file appeal; locus standi and administrator of estate; pecuniary jurisdiction of Ward Tribunal and need for valuation evidence; evaluation of evidence and ex parte findings.
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27 March 2025 |
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Non-joinder of the person in possession rendered the Tribunal proceedings incompetent and its decision nullified.
Land law – non-joinder of necessary party – person in possession of disputed land must be joined – failure renders proceedings incompetent and liable to nullification; Civil procedure – cure by revision and setting aside Tribunal’s decision; Court’s power to raise and determine non-joinder suo motu.
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27 March 2025 |
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High Court lacks jurisdiction to stay execution after Court of Appeal confirmation absent properly pleaded pending proceedings.
Land law; stay of execution — jurisdiction to stay execution after Court of Appeal confirmation; Order XXI Rule 27 — applicability only where proceedings are pending; requirement to plead and annex evidence of pending review/appeal; res judicata and pure points of law; inadmissibility of introducing new material in reply submissions.
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26 March 2025 |
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Court granted extension to appeal after applicant accounted for eight-day delay from travel and late judgment supply.
Land law – extension of time to appeal – section 41(2) Land Disputes Courts Act – good cause test. Limitation – exclusion of days judgment ready for collection; technical delay. Civil procedure – Lyamuya factors; requirement to account for all days of delay; Bushiri authority on single-day delay. Alleged illegality on face of record as potential additional ground for extension.
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26 March 2025 |
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A plaint that fails to sufficiently identify the land may render the suit incompetent and justify striking out after merits were heard.
Civil procedure – Pleading requirements – Sufficiency of description of subject matter; remedy for defective plaint (return/reject) versus striking out where matter already determined on merits; competence of suit.
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26 March 2025 |
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Appellant failed to discharge the burden of proof to trace title; Tribunal’s finding that respondent held valid title was upheld.
Evidence Act s.110 – burden of proof – party who alleges must prove facts; failure to call key witnesses weakens case. Land law – title transfer – purchaser’s title may stand where seller’s ownership is sufficiently proved by direct testimony. Succession/customary acquisition – absence of proof of death or administration may impede challenge to title but failure to adduce evidence is fatal to claimant. Civil procedure – evaluation of evidence on balance of probabilities; appellate interference limited where trial tribunal’s findings are supported by evidence.
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26 March 2025 |
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The court upheld the Tribunal's decision, finding no procedural errors in hearing or framing issues.
Land Law – right to be heard – procedural compliance – Tribunal's procedure in receiving assessor's opinions – framing of issues for determination.
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25 March 2025 |
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Execution must conform to the decree; executing tribunal must hear parties; revision dismissed and costs awarded.
Land law – Execution of decree – executing court must enforce decree as written and cannot add or vary relief; Relief must be founded on pleadings; Right to be heard — executing tribunal must invite parties to address points raised (Regulation 23(5) DLHT Rules); Revision not permitted to re-open substantive dispute in execution proceedings.
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25 March 2025 |
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The Tribunal committed an error in blending execution orders with substantive judgment, requiring correction.
Land Law – Land ownership dispute – Procedural fairness – Tribunal jurisdiction – Execution order irregularities
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25 March 2025 |
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Whether the applicant met Atilio v Mbowe requirements for an interim injunction to prevent eviction from disputed land.
Injunctions — interim relief — Atilio v Mbowe test — prima facie case established but irreparable harm not shown — losses compensable by damages — balance of convenience against applicant — disputed land alleged forest reserve.
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25 March 2025 |
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Application for prohibition struck out as incompetent after applicants failed to disclose expiry of mandatory 90‑day notice.
Land law / judicial review – leave to institute prohibition – competence of application where statutory 90‑day notice has expired; preliminary objections – effect of filing and partly prosecuting objections; withdrawal of application pending preliminary objections; abuse of court process and costs.
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25 March 2025 |
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Unauthorised repairs cannot be offset against rent; tenant failed to prove approval, appeal dismissed.
Landlord and tenant law – lease interpretation – requirement of written consent for alterations – set‑off of rent by repair costs – burden of proof on claimed offset; evidence evaluation; forceful eviction and notices.
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25 March 2025 |
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District Tribunal lacked jurisdiction where not all parties to the land dispute had undergone required Ward Tribunal mediation.
Land law – jurisdiction – requirement of Ward Tribunal mediation certificate under s.13(4) of the Land Disputes Courts Act (as amended) – inclusion of parties not mediated renders District Tribunal proceedings void for want of jurisdiction.
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25 March 2025 |
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Applicant’s oral village‑allocation evidence insufficient; respondent’s certified survey and planning documents establish council ownership.
Land law – proof of ownership – balance of probabilities; Operation Vijiji allocations – oral testimony versus documentary proof; Devolution of school land to local government – effect of certified survey plans and town planning; Possessory cultivation does not displace registered/official planning records; Requirement to cancel prior surveys before re‑subdivision.
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24 March 2025 |
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Applicant granted extension to file appeal; limitation periods excluded for pendency and certified-copy delay.
Extension of time – Land Disputes Courts Act s41(2) and Law of Limitation Act s14(1) – Exclusion of time for pending appeal s21 LLA – Automatic exclusion for obtaining certified copy s19(2) LLA – Delay not inordinate – Authorities: Citibank v TTCL; Bukoba Municipal Council v New Metro Merchandise.
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24 March 2025 |
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Proceedings were struck out for failure to serve statutory notice, suing a dissolved municipal authority, and non‑joinder of the Registrar of Titles.
• Government Proceedings Act s.6(2) – mandatory 90‑day notice to Solicitor General – non‑compliance vitiates proceedings.
• Overriding objective principle cannot cure failure to comply with mandatory statutory procedural requirements.
• Capacity to sue – proceedings against dissolved/non‑existent municipal authority are incompetent.
• Joinder – Registrar of Titles is a necessary party where relief affects land registration; non‑joinder breaches right to be heard.
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24 March 2025 |
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Contractual claim was time-barred; tribunal lacked jurisdiction and its judgment was quashed.
Limitation of actions – contract v. land dispute – collateral does not convert a contractual claim into a land claim; jurisdictional threshold; time-bar renders proceedings a nullity; interest awards must be reasonable and supported by evidence.
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24 March 2025 |
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Tribunal’s finding of ancestral possession upheld; defective sale agreements and post-litigation title insufficient to displace ownership.
Land law – proof of ownership on balance of probabilities; unsurveyed land—discrepancy in measurements not fatal; defective sale agreements lacking description and vendor title; post-litigation certificate of title rebuttable; necessary parties – Commissioner for Lands/Registrar not automatically required.
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24 March 2025 |
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Review dismissed: a recording slip was corrected and insufficient reasons were shown for extension of time to appeal.
Civil procedure — Review under s.78(1)(a) & Order XLII CPC — error apparent on face of record — slip of pen/mischaracterisation of prior application — extension of time to appeal — distinction between reviewable errors and matters for appeal — Land Tribunal Regulations, service/notice issues.
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21 March 2025 |
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A taxing officer must apply Advocates Remuneration Order rates and give reasons; excessive awards may be reduced on review.
Taxation of costs – Advocates Remuneration Order (GN No. 264 of 2015) – proper application of 11th and 8th Schedules; discretion of taxing officers must be reasonably exercised and justified. Instruction fees – opposed applications – item 1(m)(ii) fixed at TZS 1,000,000. Attendance and drafting fees – conformity with 8th Schedule; adjustment where advocate held brief. Review of taxation – interference only where wrong principle or consideration applied.
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20 March 2025 |
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Tribunal lacked jurisdiction because the executing court had already interpreted and given effect to the matrimonial decree.
Land law – jurisdiction – tribunal’s lack of jurisdiction where matter already determined in matrimonial proceedings and execution Execution of matrimonial decree – executing court’s power to construe/interpret decree to give effect to execution but not to materially alter it Procedural remedy – aggrieved party should appeal/review executing court’s order (s.80(1) Law of Marriage Act) rather than file fresh suit before Tribunal
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20 March 2025 |
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Plaintiff must apply to set aside an ex parte dismissal under Order VIII r.20(2) rather than institute a fresh suit.
Civil procedure — Res judicata: prior suit struck out for incompetence does not bar fresh proceedings; Civil procedure — Order VIII r.20(2) CPC: dismissal for non‑appearance must be set aside by application within 14 days; Failure to seek statutory relief renders a subsequent suit incompetent; Ex parte ruling where plaintiff failed to reply.
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20 March 2025 |
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A plaint must sufficiently identify immovable property; vague description justified dismissal absent a shown failure of justice.
Land law – Pleadings – Description of immovable property – Order VII r.3 Civil Procedure Code – requirement to identify land; Procedural irregularity – Section 45 Land Disputes Courts Act – reversal only if irregularity occasioned failure of justice; Parties bound by pleadings; Survey procedures and evidentiary reliance.
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20 March 2025 |
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Tribunal erred in dismissing defence due to procedural irregularities, restoring appellant's defence while imposing costs.
Civil procedure – tribunal appeal – dismissal of written statement of defence – procedural irregularities – right to be heard.
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20 March 2025 |
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Court granted Mareva injunction protecting the applicants from eviction and demolition pending the 90‑day notice period.
Mareva injunction; interlocutory relief under s.2(3) JALA and s.95 CPC; Atilio test – prima facie/serious triable issue; irreparable injury (loss of shelter); balance of convenience; ownership dispute; GN No.670/1975 remittance.
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20 March 2025 |
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Appellate court upheld trial finding that respondent proved land ownership on balance; probate‑time objection raised too late.
Land law – proof of ownership on balance of probabilities by oral testimony; weight of witness evidence versus hearsay; administratorship under Probate Rules (GN No. 49/1971) and locus to sue; appellate limitation on raising evidentiary points not argued at trial; role of probate court in determining estate schedules.
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19 March 2025 |
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Res judicata did not bar a claim to a subdivided portion; tribunal’s dismissal was quashed and matter remitted for trial.
Civil procedure – Res judicata – ingredients under section 9 CPC must be cumulatively satisfied – previous proceedings must directly and substantially concern same subject matter and parties. Land law – ownership dispute over subdivided plot – effect of prior settlement and Court of Appeal quashing of High Court judgment. Procedure – preliminary objections based on points of law may be determined by Tribunal chairman without assessors (regulation 22(a)). Limitation – time spent prosecuting earlier proceedings excluded where applicant had no control; application held within time.
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19 March 2025 |
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Defendant's admission warranted declaration of ownership and perpetual injunction; court declined damages and costs due to defendant's plea.
Land law – ownership dispute – allocation and payment of land allocation fees – declaration of ownership. Civil procedure – judgment on admissions – Order XII Rule 4, Civil Procedure Code. Remedies – perpetual injunction to protect title; refusal/no order for damages and costs where defendant admits and pleads inability to pay.
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19 March 2025 |
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Wrong citation of the enabling provision in an extension application is curable under the overriding objective.
Land law – Extension of time – Wrong or omitted citation of enabling provision – Overriding objective principle cures non‑citation – Section 14(1) Law of Limitation Act validly moves court – Preliminary objection overruled.
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18 March 2025 |
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A misunderstanding with counsel can amount to sufficient cause to grant extension of time to file an appeal.
Civil procedure – extension of time – application to file appeal out of time; applicability of Lyamuya test (account for delay; inordinate delay; diligence; other sufficient reasons). Representation – misunderstanding with counsel as potential sufficient cause for delay. Discretionary relief – court may grant extension where satisfactory explanation and diligence shown.
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18 March 2025 |
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Appeal allowed: land claim time-barred and proceedings flawed for failure to join Commissioner for Lands and Registrar of Titles.
Land law – boundary dispute – cause of action and accrual – applicability of Limitation Act; discovery does not extend accrual where earlier boundary recovery occurred. Civil procedure – non-joinder of necessary parties – Commissioner for Lands and Registrar of Titles must be joined where orders affect surveys or certificates of title. Jurisdiction – Tribunal cannot nullify surveys or order re-survey without hearing relevant land authorities.
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18 March 2025 |