This is a Contempt Application by the Applicant herein praying the Court for an Order Committing the Respondents into prison.
Applicants has attached to the Motion, Affidavit in Support together with Statement of Case, together with various Exhibits to prove its case against the Respondents.
Applicants’ case can be gleaned from his Statement of Case that 1 st Respondent filed Suit No. A2/02/2009 against the Applicant in respect of land sold to the Applicants by the Amedza family.
According to Applicant, 1 st Respondent and all parties in Suit A2/02/2009 decided to maintain the status quo by avoiding cultivating the land, the subject matter in Suit A2/02/2009. Applicants also say that during the farming season, 1 st Respondent was seen clearing the land for cultivation.
It is the Applicants’ case that Applicant applied for an Interlocutory Injunction on the land which according to Applicant was granted on 1/08/2023, a copy of this Order is exhibited by Applicant as Exhibit “SKD” attached to paragraph 7 of the Affidavit in Support.
Applicant further refers to Respondents’ affidavit in opposition to the Interlocutory Injunction, paragraph 6 which stated unambiguously thus: “In March this year, I went to clear the land so as to farm for the season and also uprooted the palm trees I planted on my farm and I now have food crops like cocoyam, maize and yams on the land. ”Applicant wraps up his case by contending that it is the willful disobeying and or disrespect of the Order so granted on 11/08/2023 that has originated this Application.
On his part, Respondents deny all the allegations of Contempt of Court levelled against him by the Applicant.
In the affidavit in opposition to the Contempt Motion, 2 nd Respondent says he is not aware of any Court Order restraining the Respondents from dealing with the land in dispute.
Indeed, paragraph 12 of the Respondents’ affidavit in support state emphatically: “That I have never either directly or indirectly knowingly or unknowingly and by omission or commission attempted or actually engaged in any form of conduct with intent to defy the injunction orders of the Honourable Court. ”The Statement of Case for the Respondents is not different from the position of the Respondents as canvassed in their affidavit in opposition.
Order 50 of C. I. 47 defines Contempt: By definition, a person commits contempt and may be committed to prison for willfully disobeying an Order of the Court requiring him to do any act other than
