DEEGBE vs. NSIAH AND ANOTHER [1985]DLCA904

Date	1985-07-25
Suit No.	-
Citation No.	[1985]DLCA904

EDUSEI JA

EDWARD WIREDU JA

OSEI-HWERE J.A.

AMANEY FOR THE APPELLANT.

DR. PREMPEH FOR THE RESPONDENTS.

[1985]DLCA904
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" ><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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DEEGBE <o:p></o:p>

{COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA} <o:p></o:p>

[1984-86] 1 GLR 545<o:p></o:p>

DATE:
25 JULY 1985<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 0in 0in">

AMANEY FOR THE APPELLANT. <o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM:
<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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EDUSEI, EDWARD WIREDU AND OSEI-HWERE J.J.A.<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>JUDGMENT OF EDUSEI J.A.<o:p></o:p>Edusei
J.A. delivered the judgment of the court. In this appeal the
plaintiff-appellant who will be referred to hereafter as the plaintiff seeks a
reversal of the judgment of Anterkyi J. sitting in an Accra High Court and
dated 21 June 1982. The judgment was in favour of the defendant and
co-defendant-respondents who also will be referred to as the defendant and
co-defendant, respectively.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
plaintiff, a legal practitioner, issued out a writ claiming against the
defendant an order of specific performance in respect of an agreement for the
sale of house No 1, Junction Road, C F C Estates, Tesano, Accra. In his
statement of claim (which will be stated fully later) accompanying the writ the
plaintiff set out, according to him, the circumstances leading to an agreement for
the sale of the house in question by the defendant to him at a price of
¢65,000. All this was an oral agreement. The plaintiff, a tenant in the house,
continued to say in his statement of claim that he had succeeded in procuring a
promise of a loan from the bank and that the bank wanted copies of the
defendant’s title deeds. In a letter attached to the statement of claim, which the
plaintiff had previously sent to the defendant, he requested for copies of his
title deeds. By this same letter the plaintiff contends that he accepted the
offer to buy the house. We shall refer to this letter later for its effect.
This letter was dated 6 April 1977.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>The
plaintiff averred that since the defendant did not react to the said letter he
filed his writ claiming specific performance of the contract for the sale of
the house in question.<o:p></o:p>The
defendant denied making any offer to the plaintiff; however, in April 1977 he
sold the house to the co-defendant, who later applied to join the suit to
protect his proprietary interest in the said house. The deed of conveyance was
however executed on 13 July 1977 between the defendant of the one part and the
co-defendant and his wife of the other part. It has also been stamped and
registered.<o:p></o:p><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p>When
pleadings by all parties had closed the co-defendant filed on 10 June 1982 an
application under Order 25, rr 3 and 4 of the High Court (Civil Procedure)
Rules, 1954 (LN 140A), praying the court to dismiss the plaintiff ‘s claim on
the ground that it did not disclose a reasonable cause of action. The plaintiff
also swore to an affidavit in opposition to the application. The plaintiff,
however, had on 9 June 1982 filed an application for leave to amend his
statement of claim. We think it convenient at this stage to set out in full the
plaintiff’s statement of claim which states:<o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">“1 The
plaintiff, a legal practitioner, is a tenant in house No 1 Junction Road, CFC
Estates, Tesano and has been so since July 1974. <o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">2 The
defendant is the owner and landlord of the said house and has been so at all
times material to this case. <o:p></o:p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:5.0pt;
margin-left:.5in;text-align:justify;mso-pagination:none;border:none;mso-padding-alt:
31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;mso-border-shadow:yes">3 In the
year 1976 the plaintiff on several occasions discussed the possibility of
buying the said house of the defendant with the defendant, and the defendant on
those occasions promised the plaintiff that if he decided to sell the house he
would give the option of a first refusal to the plaintiff. <o:p></o:p>