Republic v Nairobi City County & Adder Company Limited Ex Parte Muchewa Limited [2017] KEHC 9507 (KLR)

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI

JUDICIAL REVIEW DIVISION

MISC. APPLICATION NOS. 174 AND 388 OF 2016

IN THE MATTER OF THE NAIROBI CITY COUNTY

AND

IN THE MATTER OF THE LAW REFORM ACT

AND

IN THE MATTER OF THE URBAN PLANNING ACT 2007, URBAN AREAS AND CITIES ACT 2011, COUNTY GOVERNMENT ACT AND

LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ADOPTIVE BY-LAWS) BUILDING)

ORDER 1968

BETWEEN

REPUBLIC.....................................................APPLICANT

VERSUS

NAIROBI CITY COUNTY..........................RESPONDENT

AND

ADDER COMPANY LIMITED.......INTERESTED PARTY

EX PARTE:MUCHEWA LIMITED

RULING

Introduction

1. This ruling is the subject of two applications brought by way of Chamber Summons dated 14th April, 2016 and 26th August, 2016 in Miscellaneous Applications Nos. 174 of 2016 and 388 of 2016 respectively, seeking leave of the Court to commence judicial review proceedings.

2. In both applications, the applicant contends that despite the fact that the Respondent had approved its developments, the Respondents later unilaterally, without any justifiable cause and without affording the applicant a hearing stopped the applicant’s developments and cancelled the approved plans.

3. It was further contended that in February, 2016 a dispute arose between the Applicant and the Interested Party which dispute led to the commencement of legal proceedings before the Business Premises Rent Tribunal in Tribunal Case No. 168 of 2016 in which injunctive reliefs were issued against the interested party restraining any interference with the applicant’s quiet possession.

4. However, during the pendency of the said proceedings, it was averred that the interested party influenced the Respondent in issuing revocation notice for the revocations of the renovations of the whole building leading to the filing of Judicial Review Case No. 174 of 2016.

5. Apart from that, the applicant filed an appeal before the Respondent’s Physical Planning Liaison Committee which appeal is yet to be heard. However on 22nd August, 2016 the Respondent issued another notice revoking the approved plans for the internal partitions on the suit premises, an action the applicant contends was illegal as the same was taken more than a year after completion of the construction and without affording the applicant a hearing. Further the same was actuated by malice since it was taken during the pendency of the aforesaid legal proceedings.

6. According to Mr Karanja, learned counsel for the applicant, the Respondents’ decisions were not in accordance with section 38 of the Physical Planning Act in that there was no notification of the intention to revoke the approvals. Further there was no reason given for such revocation. It was therefore contended that the said actions were unlawful as the Respondent did not exercise its discretion but was manipulated by the interested party.

7. According to the applicant, since the challenge it to the revocation of the approvals as opposed to ownership of the suit parcels, the matter fell within the jurisdiction of this Court.

8. The applications were opposed by the Respondent. It was its contention that the issues raised herein are not proper issues for determination by a judicial review court since they require viva voce evidence to be adduced which can only be determined by the Environment and Land Court.

9. In his submissions, Miss Mogusu, learned counsel for the Respondent contended that this was not a fit case for the exercise of discretion since the matter was pending before the Liaison Committee which is the proper forum for the determination of the dispute.

10. It was averred that the Applicant appealed the decision of the Respondent but without waiting for the decision thereon, the applicant has prematurely moved this Court.

Determinations

11. I have considered the issues raised herein.

12. The requirement for leave was explained by a three judge bench comprising Bosire, Mbogholi-Msagha & Oguk, JJ in Matiba vs. Attorney General Nairobi H.C. Misc. Application No. 790 of 1993 in which the Court held that it is supposed to exclude frivolous vexatious or applications which prima facie appear to be abuse of the process of the Court or those applications which are statute barred. Similarly, in Republic vs. Land Disputes Tribunal Court Central Division and Another Ex Parte Nzioka [2006] 1 EA 321, Nyamu, J (as he then was) held that leave should be granted, if on the material available the court considers, without going into the matter in depth, that there is an arguable case for granting leave and that leave stage is a filter whose purpose is to weed out hopeless cases at the earliest possible time, thus saving the pressure on the courts and needless expense for the applicant by allowing malicious and futile claims to be weeded out or eliminated so as to prevent public bodies being paralysed for months because of pending court action which might turn out to be unmeritorious. See also Republic vs. The P/S Ministry of Planning and National Development Ex Parte Kaimenyi [2006] 1 EA 353.

13. Waki, J (as he then was), on the other hand, in Republic vs. County Council of Kwale & Another Ex Parte Kondo & 57 Others Mombasa HCMCA No. 384 of 1996 put it thus:

“The purpose of application for leave to apply for judicial review is firstly to eliminate at an early stage any applications for judicial review which are either frivolous, vexatious or hopeless and secondly to ensure that the applicant is only allowed to proceed to substantive hearing if the Court is satisfied that there is a case fit for further consideration. The requirement that leave must be obtained before making an application for judicial review is designed to prevent the time of the court being wasted by busy bodies with misguided or trivial complaints or administrative error, and to remove the uncertainty in which public officers and authorities might be left as to whether they could safely proceed with administrative action while proceedings for judicial review of it were actually pending even though misconceived… Leave may only be granted therefore if on the material available the court is of the view, without going into the matter in depth, that there is an arguable case for granting the relief claimed by the applicant the test being whether there is a case fit for further investigation at a full inter parteshearing of the substantive application for judicial review. It is an exercise of the court’s discretion but as always it has to be exercised judicially”.

14. This position was confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Meixner & Another vs. Attorney General [2005] 2 KLR 189 in which the Court held that the leave of the court is a prerequisite to making a substantive application for judicial review and that the purpose of the leave is to filter out frivolous applications hence the granting of leave or otherwise involves an exercise of judicial discretion.

15. The circumstances which guide the grant of leave to apply for judicial review remedies were enumerated in Mirugi Kariuki vs. Attorney General Civil Appeal No. 70 of 1991 [1990-1994] EA 156; [1992] KLR 8 as follows:

“If he [the Applicant] fails to show, when he applies for leave, a prima facie case, on reasonable grounds for believing that there has been a failure of public duty, the Court would be in error if it granted leave. The curb represented by the need for the applicant to show, when he seeks leave to apply, that he has a case, is an essential protection against abuse of the legal process. It enables the Court to prevent abuse by busybodies, cranks and other mischief-makers…”

16. In Re Bivac International SA (Bureau Veritas) [2005] 2 EA 43 (HCK), the Court stated:

“Application for leave to apply for orders of judicial review are normally ex parteand such an application does restrict the Court to threshold issues namely whether the applicant has an arguable case, and whether if leave is granted, the same should operate as a stay. Whereas judicial review remedies are at the end of the day discretionary, that discretion is a judicial discretion and, for this reason a court has to explain how the discretion, if any, was exercised so that all the parties are aware of the factors which led to the exercise of the Court’s discretion. There should be an arguable case which without delving into the details could succeed and an arguable case is not ascertained by the court by tossing a coin or waving a magic wand or raising a green flag, the ascertainment of an arguable case is an intellectual exercise in this fast growing area of the law and one has to consider without making any findings, the scope of the judicial review remedy sought, the grounds and the possible principles of administrative law involved and not forget the ever expanding frontiers of judicial review and perhaps give an applicant his day in court instead of denying him…. Although leave should not be granted as a matter of routine, where one is in doubt one has to consider the wise words of Megarry, J in the case of John vs. Rees [1970] Ch 345 at 402. In the exercise of the discretion on whether or not to grant stay, the court takes into account the needs of good administration.”

17. This position was appreciated by Majanja, J in Judicial Review Misc. Civil Appl. No. 139 of 2014 between Vania Investments Pool Limited and Capital Markets Authority & Others in which the learned Judge expressed himself as follows:

“I do not read the Court of Appeal to be saying that the Court should not have regard the facts of the case or have at best a cursory glance at the arguments. As I stated inOceanfreight Transport Company Ltd vs. Purity Gathoni and AnotherNairobi HC Misc. Appl JR No. 249 of 2011 [2014] eKLR, “In my view, the reference to an “arguable case” inW’Njuguna’s Caseis not that the issue is arguable merely because one party asserts one position and the other takes a contrary view.” The duty of the court to consider the facts is not lessened by the mere conclusion that the case if frivolous, or that leave is underserved by examining the facts...Indeed, if leave was to be considered a matter of right then the purpose for which leave is required would be rendered otiose.”

18. What comes out clearly from the foregoing is that the grant of leave to commence judicial review proceeding is not a mere formality and that leave is not granted as a matter of course. The applicant for leave is under an obligation to show to the court that he has a prima facie arguable case for grant of leave. Whereas he is not required at that stage to go into the depth of the application, he has to show that he has not come to court after an inordinate delay and that the application is not frivolous, malicious and futile. The grant of leave being an exercise of discretion the conduct of the applicant must also be considered.

19. In this case, the main ground for opposing the application is that there is an alternative remedy available to the applicant.

20. Section 38 of the Physical Planning Act, Cap 286 Laws of Kenya provides as follows:

(1) When it comes to the notice of a local authority that the development of land has been or is being carried out after the commencement of this Act without the required development permission having been obtained, or that any of the conditions of a development permission granted under this Act has not been complied with, the local authority may serve an enforcement notice on the owner, occupier or developer of the land.

(2) An enforcement notice shall specify the development alleged to have been carried out without development permission, or the conditions of the development permission alleged to have been contravened and such measures as may be required to be taken within the period specified in the notice to restore the land to its original condition before the development took place, or for securing compliance with those conditions, as the case may be, and in particular such enforcement notice may require the demolition or alteration of any building or works or the discontinuance of any use of land or the construction of any building or the carrying out of any other activities.

(3) Unless an appeal has been lodged under subsection (4) an enforcement notice shall take effect after the expiration of such period as may be specified in the notice.

(4) If a person on whom an enforcement notice has been served under subsection (1) is aggrieved by the notice the may within the period specified in the notice appeal to the relevant liaison committee under section 13.

21. Section 9(2), (3) and (4) of the Fair Administrative Action Act, No. 4 of 2015 provides:

(2) The High Court or a subordinate court under subsection (1) shall not review an administrative action or decision under this Act unless the mechanisms including internal mechanisms for appeal or review and all remedies available under any other written law are first exhausted.

(3) The High Court or a subordinate Court shall, if it is not satisfied that the remedies referred to in subsection (2) have been exhausted, direct that applicant shall first exhaust such remedy before instituting proceedings under sub-section (1).

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (3), the High Court or a subordinate Court may, in exceptional circumstances and on application by the applicant, exempt such person from the obligation to exhaust any remedy if the court considers such exemption to be in the interest of justice.

22. It is however my view that the onus was upon the applicant to satisfy the Court that she ought to be exempted from resorting to the available remedies. This was the position adopted by the Court of Appeal in Republic vs. National Environment Management Authority [2011] eKLR, where the Court held that where there is an alternative remedy and especially where Parliament has provided a statutory appeal procedure, it is only in exceptional circumstances that an order for judicial review would be granted. The Court of Appeal had this to say at page 15 and 16 of its judgment,

“The principle running through these cases is where there was an alternative remedy and especially where Parliament had provided a statutory appeal process, it is only in exceptional circumstances that an order for judicial review would be granted, and that in determining whether an exception should be made and judicial review granted, it was necessary for the court to look carefully at the suitability of the statutory appeal in the context of the particular case and ask itself what, in the context of the statutory powers, was the real issue to be determined and whether the statutory appeal procedure was suitable to determine it. – see for example R v BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL, ex parte FERRERO LTD case. The Learned judge , in our respectful view, considered these strictures and come to the conclusion that the Appellant had failed to demonstrate to her what exceptional circumstances existed in its case which would remove it from the appeal process set out in the statute with respect we agree with the judge.”

23. Therefore as was stated by Nyamu, J (as he then was) in Republic vs. The Commissioner of Lands Ex parte Lake Flowers Limited Nairobi HCMISC. Application No. 1235 of 1998:

“Availability of other remedies is no bar to the granting of the judicial review relief but can however be an important factor in exercising the discretion whether or not to grant the relief...”

24. This Court in Republic vs. Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and Another ex parte ZTE Judicial Review Case No. 441 of 2013 held that:

“…one must not lose sight of the fact that the decision whether or not to grant judicial review orders is an exercise of judicial discretion and as was held by Ochieng, J in John Fitzgerald Kennedy Omanga vs. The Postmaster General Postal Corporation of Kenya & 2 Others Nairobi HCMA No. 997 of 2003,for the Court to require the alternative procedure to be exhausted prior to resorting to judicial review is in accord with judicial review being very properly regarded as a remedy of last resort though the applicant will not be required to resort to some other procedure if that other procedure is less convenient or otherwise less appropriate. Therefore, unless due to the inherent nature of the remedy provided under the statute to resort thereto would be less convenient or otherwise less appropriate, parties ought to follow the procedure provided for under the statute.”

25. There is now a chain of authorities from the High Court as well as the Court of Appeal that where a statute has provided a remedy to a party, this Court must exercise restraint and first give an opportunity to the relevant bodies or State organs to deal with the dispute as provided in the relevant statute. This principle was well articulated by the Court of Appeal in Speaker of National Assembly vs. Njenga Karume [2008] 1 KLR 425, where it held that;

“Irrespective of the practical difficulties enumerated...these should not in our view be used as a justification for circumventing the statutory procedure...In our view, there is considerable merit in the submission that where there is a clear procedure for redress of any particular grievance prescribed by the Constitution or an Act of Parliament, that procedure should be strictly followed. We observe without expressing a concluded view that Order 53 of the Civil Procedure Rules cannot oust clear constitutional provisions and statutory provisions.”

26. It is now a cardinal principle that, save in the most exceptional circumstances the judicial review jurisdiction would not be exercised and the court must not exercise it where there exist alternative remedy. In Re Preston [1985] AC 835 at 825D Lord Scarmanwas of the view that a remedy by judicial review should not be made available where an alternative remedy existed and should only be made as a last resort.

27. Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham of St. Marylebone in the House of Lords decision in Chief Constable vs. Evans [1982] 3 ALL ER 141, stated at p 143 as follows with respect to the judicial review remedy:

“This remedy, vastly increased in extent, and rendered, over a long period in recent years, of infinitely more convenient access than that provided by the old prerogative writs and actions for declaration, is intended to protect the individual against abuse of power by a wide range of authorities, judicial, quasi-judicial, and, as would originally have been thought when I first practiced at the Bar, administrative. It is not intended to take away from those authorities the powers and discretions properly vested in them by law and to substitute the courts as the bodies making the decisions. It is intended to see that the relevant authorities use their powers in a proper manner”.

28. Mumbi Ngugi, J in Rich Productions Limited vs. Kenya Pipeline Company & Another [2014],explained why the Court must be slow to undermine prescribed alternative dispute resolution mechanisms thus:

“The reason why the Constitution and law establish different institutions and mechanisms for dispute resolution in different sectors is to ensure that such disputes as may arise are resolved by those with the technical competence and the jurisdiction to deal with them. While the Court retains the inherent and wide jurisdiction under Article 165 of the Constitution to supervise bodies such as the 2nd Respondent such supervision is limited in various respects, which I need not go into here. Suffice it that it (the court) cannot exercise such jurisdiction in circumstances where parties before court seek to avoid mechanisms and process provided by law, and convert the issues in dispute into constitutional issues when it is not.”

29. In this case it was not contested that there are in fact proceedings pending before the Liaison Committee challenging the same decision. To proceed and determine these applications would have the effect of rendering the said proceedings superfluous. Whereas, this Court may in exceptional cases excuse the failure to invoke the alternative dispute resolution mechanisms provided under the law, where such mechanisms have in fact been invoked, to abandon the same midstream without terminating the same and proceed to commence judicial review proceedings amounts to abuse of the process of the Court.

30. In my view by granting the applicant permission or leave to commence judicial review proceedings as sought herein would amount to this Court abetting abuse of its process. Since the decision whether or not to grant leave is discretionary, one of the factors which the Court will consider in deciding whether or not to grant it is the conduct of the applicant.

31. In this case it is my view and I hereby hold that the applicant’s conduct, which amounts to playing lottery with the due process, disentitles it to the leave sought and the same ought not to be granted.

Order

32. In the premises I decline to grant leave and without such leave these proceedings are rendered still-born.

33. It follows that these proceedings are incompetent and are hereby struck out but with no order as to costs as the judicial review proceedings proper were yet to be commenced and as the merit of the applicant’s case is yet to be determined.

34. It is so ordered.

Dated at Nairobi this 8th day of November, 2017

G V ODUNGA

JUDGE

Delivered in the presence of:

Mr Karanja for Mr Mutiso for the applicant

CA Ooko