Counsel for Defendant: 

Sahid M Sesay Esq

Counsel for Plaintiff: 

No Appearance

Cc. 371/2015     F. No.10

                                                            IN THE HIGH COURT OF SIERRA LEONE

                                                                 (GENERAL CIVIL JURISDICTION)

Mark Richard Faragher                                 -                      Plaintiffs/Applicants

Neneh Pateh Faragher

                                                            AND

Osman Rasheed                                 -                                   1st DEFENDANT/Respondent

Dr. Tonny                                            -                                   2nd Defendant/

Dr/Mr Fremose                                   -                                   3rd Defendant/

PRESIDING;

            THE HON MR. JUSTICE REGINALD SYDNEY FYNN JA

Counsel;

Sahid M Sesay Esq for the /Applicant

RULING dated 2nd March 2016

1.            By notice of motion dated 3rd January 2016 the applicants seeks the following orders :

I.That this honourable court do grant to the plaintiffs liberty to enter judgment against the defendants in this action upon the reliefs indorsed in the statement of claim in the writ of summons in this action

II.That this Honourable Court do proceed to fix a date for the assessment of damages in this act.

2.            The statement of claim upon which judgment is sought to be entered is Exhibit SMS 9(1-6) of the  Supplemental affidavit of 24th February 2016 which sets out the plaintiffs claim in the action. Briefly put the plaintiffs aver that they are the defendants landlords. They further aver that the  defendants are in breach of several clauses of the lease including the payment of rent and the prohibition from assigning or subletting without permission.

3.            The action had been commenced by a generally endorsed writ dated 17th November 2015 which according to Exhibit SMS 2 (which is an affidavit of service sworn to on 22nd January 2016 by one Ibrahim Sima Kargbo, Solicitors clerk) was served personally on the defendants on 4th December 2015. Another affidavit by Ibrahim Kargbo, this time an affidavit of Search dated 22nd   January 2016 discloses that a search of the cause list on 25th January 2016 disclosed that the defendants had not enter appearance to the action even though they had been personally served on 4th December 2015.

4.            This court has ordered two sets of notices to be sent to the defendants respondents. I have  interviewed Mr. Harold Johnson process server of the Court of Appeal who served and filed  returns on the notices I ordered. He assures me that he served the notices by leaving them on  the premises with reliable persons. The defendants have still not appeared to oppose the motion.

5.            Justice being double edged whilst the attendance of all parties is a necessary prerequiste the deliberate failure of one party to attend when served should not be allowed to frustrate the other side from proceeding. I have therefore proceeded to hear the motion which is made pursuant to Order 13 R 5 (1) & (2) of the High Court Rules of 2007

13.       In the circumstances I cannot grant the orders  prayed for or any of them.

I also order that the Applicant bears the cost of this application assessed by the court in the sum of ....................................... agreed by the parties

………………………………………………………. The Hon. Mr. Justice Reginald Sydney Fynn JA