DANDYCYN LIMITED v. THOMAS ANOKYE & ANOR
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
- HIS LORDSHIP JUSTICE DR. RICHMOND OSEI-HWERE
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Property and Real Estate Law
2019
HIGH COURT
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The applicants, Defendants/Judgment Debtors, sought an interlocutory injunction to prevent auctioning of their property, contesting a default judgment's execution. They claimed the property valuation was incorrect and their appeal had a chance of success. The respondent opposed, stating the injunction was an abuse of process, as the Registrar and Auctioneer were officers of the court, not agents of the plaintiff. The court, guided by principles of Civil Procedure and the need to prevent irreparable injury, found no exceptional circumstances justifying the injunction. The application was dismissed, and costs were awarded to the respondent.
RULING
This ruling is in respect of an application filed on behalf of the Defendants/Judgment Debtors/Applicants (hereinafter called the Applicants) praying the Honourable Court for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the Plaintiff/Judgment Creditor/Respondent (hereinafter called the Respondent) either by itself, its agents, privies, assigns, servants or otherwise howsoever including the Registrar and Auctioneer from auctioning property situate on Plots 115 and 116 Block “EE”, Patuda/Daban, Kumasi.
The background facts to the application are that a default judgment was given in favour of the Respondent on 22nd November, 2016. The Respondent subsequently went into execution and applied for a reserved price to be set by the Court for the sale of the properties attached in execution. The applicants herein objected to the valuation report commissioned by counsel for the Respondent and upon an application by the applicants herein, the court ordered the Registrar of this court to appoint an independent valuer to re-value the property. When the valuation report was brought to the notice of counsel for the Applicants, he expressed serious reservations and prayed the court to appoint the Government valuer to re-value the property. On 12th March, 2018 the court granted this request and appointed the Regional Surveyor, Lands Commission, Kumasi to do another valuation at the expense of the applicant. The valuation report was to be filed by 26th March, 2018 and the motion was adjourned to 9th April, 2018. When the motion came up for hearing on 9th April, 2018, counsel for the applicants failed to show up but wrote to the court expressing his frustration in getting the Head of the Valuation Division of the Lands Commission to comply with the order of the court. The court presided over by Her Ladyship Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah determined the application by fixing the reserved price. The court was guided by the valuation report filed by Surveyor Richard Darko, the independent valuer appointed by the court and fixed the reserved price of the applicant’s properties at GHC900,000.00. Aggrieved by the decision of the court, the applicants appealed against the decision per a Notice of Appeal filed on 16th April, 2018. Subsequently, the Applicants sought to stay the Order for reserved price but the same was dismissed by the Court.
The Applicants have thus brought the instant application to seek the relief of interlocutory injunction.
The Applicants’ case i