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Judge recuses self from Trauma Centre Hospital case

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High Court judge Justice Francis Bere last week recused himself from entertaining the matter where African Medical Investment (AMI) (Plc) and Dr Vivek Solanki are fighting over ownership of Trauma Centre Hospital in Harare.

High Court judge Justice Francis Bere last week recused himself from entertaining the matter where African Medical Investment (AMI) (Plc) and Dr Vivek Solanki are fighting over ownership of Trauma Centre Hospital in Harare.

BY CHARLES LAITON

The judge’s recusal followed an application by AMI lawyers who felt the judge would not properly deal with the matter having dealt with another matter involving the same parties at some point.

Justice Bere said in the interest of justice he was at liberty to have the matter heard by another High Court judge.

In the court papers Solanki, who was represented by Jonathan Samukange, said his connection with AMI directors began sometime in 2008 when the latter approached him concerning how he was running his Trauma Centres since he had other ones in South Africa and was in the process of building another one in Tanzania.

Apparently, AMI Hospital operating as Trauma Centre in the Masasni area in Dar es Salaam is reported to have petitioned the country’s High Court’s Main Registry for bankruptcy last week.

AMI alleges it had incurred huge losses between 2013 and 2014 to the extent of having several outstanding liabilities and debts which were exceeding its ability to pay different creditors.

However, the matter which Justice Bere was supposed to deal with was an application by AMI for condonation of late filing of heads of argument and removal of the bar operating against it in the matter of Solanki versus AMI under case number HC4632/12.

In the application AMI said: “Applicant was never in wilful disdain of the rules of this court and secondly that there is a good explanation for the delay in seeking condonation . . . If the court fails to do so, it would have with respect permitted a fraud to be passed upon it.”

AMI claims the centre of the dispute was the issue of control and ownership of Trauma Centre Hospital which was leasing premises from the estate of the late Rosa Alhadeff, an assertion Solanki disputed.

In his affidavit Solanki said: “I had been leasing the premises from the estate of the late Rosa Alhadeff. The premises were subsequently offered to me as the sitting tenant and I then decided to buy my shelf company, Streamsleigh Investment.”