They have no legal capacity to sue me, Sudhir says in fresh suit against BoU

Property mogul Sudhir Ruparelia has filed fresh suit against Bank of Uganda calling for the dismissal of Crane Bank case against him.

In the application lodged to High Court on April 30, Kampala Associated Advocates want court to strike out the suit because of the Central Bank purported to sue Mr Sudhir and his Meera Investments Ltd through Crane Bank (in receivership), using an expunged process and wrong facts.

In October 2016, BoU took over Crane Bank on grounds of undercapitalization, placed it under receivership before selling it to dfcu in January, 2017.

“…I have been advised by…lawyers, which I advise I verily believe to be true, that the respondent has no legal capacity to sue applicants,” reads part of the application.

Mr. Sudhir and Meera Investments also in the application want the recovery, transfer and return of freehold property from CBL in receivership. “…I have been advised by lawyers, Kampala Associated Advocates, which advice I verily believe to be true, that under the Constitution and the Land Act, the Respondent cannot own and hold freehold property and is therefore, not capable of holding the suit property in its names,” the application continues.

He also in the application argues that he was sued as a sole shareholder of CBL, which is not true and that the respondent has no powers to commence against CBL shareholders or Sudhir himself.

“The orders sought against the 2nd applicant in HCCS 493 of 2017 are barred by law. The respondent cannot maintain an action against the 2nd applicant for recovery, transfer and return of freehold property when the respondent is a non-citizen within the meaning of the law” reads the suit.

In 2017, BoU sued the property mogul and his Meera Investments Company accusing him of siphoning over Shs400 billion from his defunct Crane Bank.

Sudhir has since denied the allegations and wants court to dismiss the case. He also went ahead to counter sue BoU seeking compensation of Shs28 billion in damages for alleged breach of contract.

In the latest application, Sudhir’s lawyers have argued that Bank of Uganda should have deducted statutory obligations owed by Crane Bank when they put the bank under statutory management.

Court has set July 3,2019 to start hearing the application in the longstanding dispute between Sudhir and Central Bank.