[1962]DLHC1730 • April 5, 1962 • High Court
TOTAL OIL PRODUCTS LTD. vs. OBENG AND MANU
The plaintiff, Total Oil Products Ltd., claimed rights over land originally belonging to a subject of the stool, transferred through the second defendant to the first defendant, and subsequently leased to the plaintiff. The dispute centered on the validity of the conveyance and lease agreements, and whether customary law and statutory provisions affected the transactions. The land was developed with buildings and cocoa farms, and the defendants challenged the plaintiff's claims based on customary land tenure and statutory requirements.
read moreJUDGMENT OF OLLENNU J. His lordship narrated the facts as set out in the headnote and continued:] The first point to be considered is the position of the second defendant in the case. It is quite clear both on the pleadings and the evidence that no contractual relationship exists between the plaintiffs and the second defendant, and no tortious act has been committed by the second defendant against the plaintiff-company. Therefore no cause of action is disclosed against him; the suit against him is therefore frivolous. On the suit generally it was submitted by counsel for the plaintiffs that: (1) The conveyance by the second defendant to the first defendant is null and void, because it was made contrary to section 75 (1) of the Local Government Ordinance;1(1) (2) The lease by the first defendant is also null and void by reason of the said section 75 (1) of Cap. 64; and (3) By the nature of the deeds of conveyance exhibit C and exhibit E between the secon defendant and the first def...