DIGITRONIX SYSTEMS LIMITED VS JISLAH FINANCIAL SERVICES & ORS
July 25, 2024
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
- JENNIFER DODOO JA (PRESIDING)
- GIFTY AGYEI ADDO JA
- PROFESSOR OLIVIA ANKU TSEDE JA
Areas of Law
- Civil Procedure
- Banking and Finance Law
July 25, 2024
COURT OF APPEAL
GHANA
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
On 21 November 2022, four financial institutions in receivership—CDH Savings and Loans Limited, First Trust Savings and Loans Limited, Global Access Savings and Loans, and Ideal Financial Limited—filed a purported appeal to the Ghana Court of Appeal challenging a High Court judgment dated 17 November 2022 by Justice Constant Kweku Hometowu that dismissed interpleader claims and made garnishee directions concerning funds held by Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited for Jislah Financial Services Limited. The Court of Appeal, in an opinion by Gifty Agyei Addo JA, examined the record and discovered that the appealed judgment arose from Suit No. CM/RPC/0875/2020 between Digitronix Systems Limited and Jislah Financial Services Limited, whereas the Appellants’ own notice of claim was filed in Suit No. CM/INTD/0265/2022. Concluding that parties who were not part of the lower-court suit lacked standing to appeal that judgment and emphasizing jurisdictional primacy under Supreme Court precedent, the Court struck out the Notice of Appeal as incompetent and declined to address merits or award costs.
GIFTY AGYEI ADDO JA
INTRODUCTION
Per the purported notice of appeal filed on 21st November 2022, the Appellants, namely:
· CDH Savings and Loans Limited (in receivership).
· First Trust Savings and Loans Limited (in receivership.)
· Global Access Savings and Loans (in receivership).
· Ideal Financial Limited (in receivership).
inform us, that they are dissatisfied with the judgment of the High Court, Accra, presided over by His Lordship, Justice Constant Kweku Hometowu, dated 17th November 2022, dismissing the interpleader action filed on 4th February 2022.
According to the Appellants, their appeal, for which we have been invited on the sole ground that the judgment is against the weight of the evidence, is in respect of the 17th November 2022, judgment.
The Notice of Appeal can be found on pages 149 to 151 of the Record of Appeal. The judgment dated 17th November 2022, can also be found on pages 137 to 148 of the Record of Appeal. We do not feel constrained to say right from the onset that the life of this purported appeal, according to the record before us, is destined to be short-lived. We therefore have no legal basis to determine the merits of this purported appeal and we set out to show why.
In the suit for which the Appellants purport to come before us, the Suit No. is CM/RPC/0875/2020. The parties in that suit, on the face of the record, are DIGITRONIX SYSTEMS LIMITED VRS. JISLAH FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED, with the coram being Justice Constant Kweku Hometowu.
The record discloses that the Appellants herein filed a notice of claim as Claimants in Suit No. CM/INTD/0265/2022, dated 14th February 2022. The record therefore tells us that if the Appellants herein have any grievance or dissatisfaction arising from their Notice of Claim, same would be contested on appeal arising from the decision in Suit No. CM/INTD/0265/2022.
We are at a loss as to why the purported appeal has been filed from the judgment in Suit No. CM/RPC/0875/2020, which these so-called Appellants were not parties.
We hasten to say that in the respective written submissions of the parties before us, none of them drew our attention to our present observations. What it means is that, this Court was being led and goaded on to assume that the purported Appellants filed their Notice of Claim in Suit No. CM/RPC/0875/2020.
Per the record before us, the Plaintiff/Judgment Creditor (DIGITRONIX SYSTEMS LIMITED) obtained judgment in default of appearance against the Defendant/Judgm