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Court sets
aside default judgment against Areeba
Accra, May 2, Ghanadot/GNA - An Accra Commercial Court on
April 9, 2008 set aside a default judgment entered against
Areeba operated by Scancom Limited with Investcom Consortium
Holding as a major shareholder to enable the company file
its defence so that the case be heard on its merit.
The Court in its ruling said after considering the arguments
of Defence Counsel, the court noticed it was the first time
that defendants were filing their statement of defence.
Mr David Andreas Hesse, a Former Director, Scancom Limited
has sued Investcom Consortium Holding S.A of Beirut, Lebanon
and Scancom Limited, operators of Areeba Mobile Phone
Network now MTN to be reinstated into the company with his
six per cent shareholdings.
The suit also called for perpetual injunction on Scancom
Limited or its agents from removing the Plaintiff as a
director of the company and to restore Mr Hesse's additional
3.4 per cent shares of Scancom Construction Limited
representing 25 per cent interest to him.
The Court, presided over By Mrs Justice Cecilia Sowah, said
having satisfied itself from the records before it that the
notice of withdrawal of the Appeal was indeed filed before
motion was filed.
It said the contention by Counsel for plaintiff that an
appeal was pending at the time this application was filed
was therefore incorrect.
"My view is that under rule 17(1) of the Court of Appeal
rules 1997, the filing of the Notice of Withdrawal
effectively ended the appeal, and thereupon, this Court as
trial court became seized with the matter" Justice Sowah
said.
The Court also disagreed with the Plaintiff's argument that
having refused the first Defendant's application to set
aside the judgment of April 26, 2007, the Court had no power
to entertain the application before it.
It said the First Defendant in its motion merely sought to
have the default judgment set aside without praying the
Court for leave to file his defence.
It said by virtue of the ruling given on February 27, 2008
in respect of a similar application the Court could be said
to have exercised its discretionary power and thereby become
functus officio.
It said that the application was struck out not on the
merits, but because of the irregularity in filing it whilst
an appeal in respect of the same subject matter was pending.
The Court said the proposed statement of defence, which has
been exhibited to the application, disclosed a reasonable
defence to the action and it is the Court's view that this
was an appropriate case to set aside the default judgment
for the case to be determined on its merits.
"I have also arrived at this conclusion having considered
that the injury caused to plaintiff by this late filling of
defence would be adequately compensated in costs" Mrs
Justice Sowah said.
GNA
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