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Court of AppealStruck OutCivil Appeal No. 254 of 1998

CITY FINANCE LIMITED vs INDERJEET RACHPAL BHANDARI [1999] KECA 125 (KLR)

Court of Appeal
10 June 1999
RKR.O. KwachPhilip Kiptoo TunoiP.K. TunoiALA.A. Lakha
136 words in judgment
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The bottom line

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Kenya's Court of Appeal confirmed that you cannot appeal a court ruling that has not been signed - such an appeal will be struck out.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This is a very short Court of Appeal disposition in Civil Appeal No. 254 of 1998, in which City Finance Limited appealed against a ruling and order of the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (Justice Hayanga) dated 4th March 1998 in H.C.C.C. No. 5940 of 1993, a suit brought by Inderjeet Rachpal Bhandari. The judgment, delivered at Nairobi on 10th June 1999 by a coram of Kwach, Tunoi and Lakha, JJ.A., records a single concession by the appellant's counsel, Mr. Billing: the ruling intended to be appealed against was not signed. The court accepted that this rendered the appeal incompetent and struck it out, but made no order as to costs, so neither party bears the other's costs. No authorities were cited, no issues of law were analysed, and the decision below was neither affirmed nor reversed on the merits - the appeal simply failed to take off for want of a signed ruling. The binding takeaway for lower courts and practitioners is that an appeal founded on an unsigned ruling is incompetent and liable to be struck out. The brevity of the judgment means the brief records no separate opinions, no dissents, and no statutory or case citations.

Questions the Court framed

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The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.

  1. 1.Whether an appeal against an unsigned ruling is competent

Key legal issues

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01

Competence of an appeal founded on an unsigned ruling

Holding

An appeal against an unsigned ruling is incompetent and liable to be struck out, a point conceded by the appellant's own counsel

Reasoning

The appellant's counsel, Mr. Billing, conceded that the ruling intended to be appealed against was not signed. On that concession, the court held the appeal incompetent and struck it out. The judgment is a short disposition rendered on concession; no substantive analysis of the underlying dispute or the High Court ruling was undertaken, and no costs were awarded against either party.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • An appeal against a ruling that has not been signed is incompetent and must be struck out

Court orders

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  1. 1.The appeal is struck out
  2. 2.No order as to costs

The bench

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One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.

RK
majority
Philip Kiptoo Tunoi
majority
AL
majority
On appeal from
High Court of Kenya at Nairobi
H.C.C.C. No. 5940 of 1993
Jurisdiction invoked
Appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal over rulings and orders of the High Court (no specific constitutional or statutory provision is cited in the judgment)

Relief refused

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Prosecution of the appeal against the High Court ruling

Counsel for the appellant conceded that the ruling intended to be appealed against was not signed, rendering the appeal incompetent

p. 2

Costs

No order as to costs

Quotable passages

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Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.

Mr. Billing for the appellant concedes that the Ruling intended to be appealed against is not signed. This renders the appeal incompetent.
p. 2competence of appeal
Accordingly, it is struck out but with no order as to costs.
p. 2final orders

Issues in the judgment

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minor

The judgment contains no reasons beyond counsel's concession; the ruling of the High Court and the substance of the dispute are not set out, limiting the brief's analytical value

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "CITY FINANCE LIMITED vs INDERJEET RACHPAL BHANDARI [1999] KECA 125 (KLR)", Case Analysis (1999). Civil Appeal No. 254 of 1998. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/1999/125/eng@1999-06-10

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.