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ELCDismissedJudicial Review Chamber Summons dated 26/9/2022 (Thika)· [2024] KEELC 3582 (KLR)
Lyne Apartments Limited v Wakaba & 2 others (Environment and Land Judicial Review Case 6'B' of 2022) [2024] KEELC 3582 (KLR)
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·~4 min to read original · ~4 min briefThe bottom line
#What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Lyne Apartments Limited moved the Court by Chamber Summons dated 26/9/2022 seeking leave to apply for orders of certiorari to quash a Provisional Certificate of Title issued on 23rd June 1994 by the Chief Land Registrar/Registrar of Titles in respect of Ruiru/Ruiru East Block 4/90, and mandamus compelling the Land Registrar to recall and cancel the duplicate title. The Applicant deponed that it purchased the land for Kshs. 1,400,000 in 2013 and, upon the 1st Respondent claiming ownership in 2022, discovered a green card in the 1st Respondent's name with no explanation from the Registrar. The 2nd and 3rd Respondents raised a preliminary objection that the suit offended Order 53 rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules, was frivolous and vexatious, and was an abuse of process. The court, G K Kemei J, framed the sole issue as whether the preliminary objection was merited. Relying on Order 53(2) of the Civil Procedure Rules and Section 9(3) of the Law Reform Act, which bar leave for certiorari sought later than six months after the decision, the court held that leave should have been sought by September 2013 and that the application filed in 2022 was about eight years late, robbing the court of jurisdiction. Applying Uwe Meixner & Another v Attorney General [2005] eKLR on the purpose of leave, the court upheld the preliminary objection, dismissed the suit, and ordered the Exparte Applicant to pay costs to the 2nd and 3rd Respondents. Judgment was delivered virtually at Thika on 9th April 2024.
Key legal issues
#01
Whether the judicial review application is time barred under Order 53(2) of the Civil Procedure Rules and Section 9(3) of the Law Reform Act
Holding
The application for leave, filed about eight years after the Registrar's 1994 decision, is time barred and the court has no jurisdiction to grant leave
Reasoning
The Exparte Applicant acquired the land in 2013 and the decision sought to be quashed was dated 23rd June 1994. The statutory six-month window expired long before the Chamber Summons of 26/9/2022. Since leave is a prerequisite to judicial review, the delay deprives the court of jurisdiction, and the preliminary objection must succeed.
p. 3
Legal principles established
#- Leave for judicial review by certiorari must be sought within six months of the decision challenged, failing which the court has no jurisdiction to grant leave
Court orders
#- 1.The Preliminary Objection is upheld and the suit is dismissed
- 2.Costs payable by the Exparte Applicant to the 2nd and 3rd Respondents
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Order 53 rule 2 of the Civil Procedure Rules, 2010; Section 9(3) of the Law Reform Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Lyne Apartments Limited v Wakaba & 2 others (Environment and Land Judicial Review Case 6'B' of 2022) [2024] KEELC 3582 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2024). Judicial Review Chamber Summons dated 26/9/2022 (Thika). Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelc/2024/3582/eng@2024-04-09
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.