Supreme Court of Mauritius, 23 janvier 2020, 2020 PL1 1 – A M A L Macky & Ors v. B P Khooblah

A M A L Macky & Ors v. B P Khooblah

2020 PL1 1

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF PORT LOUIS (Div I) Cause Number: – 142/2017 In the matter of: – CN 142/2017 Ahmud Mahummud Abdool Latiff MACKY & Ors Plaintiffs v. Bibi Parveen KHOOBLAH Defendant And in the matter of: – CN 143/2017 Ahmud Mahummud Abdool Latiff MACKY & Ors Plaintiffs v. Hassen BUXOO & Anor Defendants

And in the matter of: – CN 144/2017 Ahmud Mahummud Abdool Latiff MACKY & Ors

Plaintiffs v. Jhaneer MANAAR Defendant And in the matter of: – CN 145/2017 Ahmud Mahummud Abdool Latiff MACKY & Ors Plaintiffs v. Ibney Saoud ANDHULL Defendant RULING

All four cases relate to an action under the Landlord and Tenant Act for an order for possession of tenement on the ground that the rented premises are in a dilapidated condition and are therefore not safe for the tenants. The cases were consolidated at the previous hearing and submissions recorded in case bearing cause number 142/ 2017.

Before the start of the trial, learned counsel for the plaintiffs informed the court that plaintiff no 3 has passed away and moved to put plaintiffs no 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 out of cause. Learned counsel for the defendants has objected to the amendment.

Learned counsel for the defendant has submitted that the present action is not an action in the nature of an “action conservatoire” under article 813 of the Civil Code since the aim is not to preserve the undivided legal rights of the parties.

Learned counsel for the plaintiffs on the other hand has relied on the authority of A Choo Ping Fen & Ors v. M B Tickfine & Ors 1998 SCJ 38 and Purmanan Rughooputh & Anor v. Gaetan Lavigilante & Ors 2018 SCJ 201 to submit that the present action is an “action conservatoire” falling under Article 813 of the Civil Code because it seeks “la conservation des bien indivis”. In particular, he referred to a quote at page 6 of the judgment of Purmanan Rughooputh & Anor (supra), which reads as follows: – “Indivision (Régime legal) by Christophe Albiges, Professeur à l’Université Montpellier I, published in Rép. Civ. Dalloz, mars 2011… 246. Mesures matérielles. – une première catégorie d’actes conservatoires correspond à des mesures matérielles nécessaires à la conservation du bien indivis et mises en oeuvre, avec des frais limités, par un indivisaire seul. Tel a pu être le case de la remise en état d’une toiture, les travaux entrepris étaient destinés à empêcher la chute de tuiles dans une rue très fréquentée et à proximité d’un arrêt d’autobus”.

I have considered the submission of both counsels and wish to point out the following. The present case is one wherein the plaintiffs seek for an order for repossession of tenement on the grounds that the premises are in a dilapidated condition as opposed to one where the plaintiffs and/or plaintiff as owners/ owner holding undivided rights in a property seek to effect certain repairs to preserve the property in lite. This, in my view is a material distinction which needs to be made.

The cause of action of the plaintiffs is one for repossession of tenement under the Landlord and Tenant Act which governs the rights and obligations of parties in a landlord and tenant relationship, and in my view does not amount to an “action conservatoire” under article 813 al 1 of the Code Civil.

For the above reasons, and in the light of the previous ruling delivered by this court on 24 th

September 2018, I uphold the objection of learned counsel for the defendants and set aside the motion of the learned counsel for the plaintiffs.

S Chui [Ruling delivered by S Chui (Mrs) Senior District Magistrate] [Ruling delivered on 23 rd January 2020]