[1944] EACA 20
The court held that the plaintiff is entitled to inspection of the document if it would assist him either directly or indirectly in the suit, irrespective of whether he was a party to the document or whether its contents had been communicated to him. The absence of a written contract of service suggested that the...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [1944] EACA 20
- Parties
- Plaintiff: V. R. Mandevia; Defendant: The Standard Bank of South Africa, Limited
- Court
- East African Court of Appeal
- Jurisdiction
- Uganda
- Case Number
- Civil Case No. 19 of 1943
- Procedural Posture
- Miscellaneous Application / Application for Inspection of Document
- Outcome
- application allowed
- Judges
- Bartley J
- Legal Topics
- Discovery of Documents, Relevance of Evidence, Inspection of Documents
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
V. R. Mandevia
Plaintiff
The Standard Bank of South Africa, Limited
Defendant
Procedural Posture
Miscellaneous Application / Application for Inspection of Document
Legal Issues
- 1 Whether the plaintiff is entitled to inspection of the document dated 23rd January, 1922, marked 'Private Official'.
- 2 Whether the relevance of the document depends on whether the plaintiff was a party to it or its contents were communicated to him.
- 3 Whether the document forms part of the plaintiff's contract of employment and its impact on the suit.
Ratio Decidendi
The court held that the plaintiff is entitled to inspection of the document if it would assist him either directly or indirectly in the suit, irrespective of whether he was a party to the document or whether its contents had been communicated to him. The absence of a written contract of service suggested that the conditions of service were governed by regulations, and the document in question purported to show the regulations in force at the time of the plaintiff's engagement. Even if those regulations had been altered, added to, or revoked, the court found that the regulations in force at the time of engagement were not irrelevant to the plaintiff's suit based on the pleadings and...
Court Disposition
application allowed
Orders
- The plaintiff is granted inspection of the document dated 23rd January, 1922.
- Costs awarded against the defendants.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
15 paragraphs
## ORIGINAL CIVIL <u>. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . </u>
#### Before BARTLEY, J.
# $\mathcal{L}(\mathbf{A}) = \mathbf{I}$
## V. R. MANDEVIA, Plaintiff
û
## THE STANDARD BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA, LIMITED, Defendants Civil Case No. 19 of 1943
Civil Procedure—Inspection of document—Relevance of document.
The plaintiff who was employed by the defendant bank from September, 1924, to the 3rd December, 1942, sued the bank for 16 months' half pay in lieu of leave which had not been granted to him and to which he alleged he was entitled during his service. He also sued for Sh. 4,000 in lieu of return passages to India to which he alleged he was entitled in connexion with the leave withheld. The plaint also contained claims for Sh. 2,000 in lieu of 20 weeks' accrued local leave and Sh. 7,643/27 in respect of gratuity. The plaintiff having demanded inspection of a document dated 23rd January, 1922, and marked "Private Official" written by the Superintendent of defendant's East African branches to the bank managers in East Africa which document purports to set out regulations which came into force on the 1st January, 1922, regarding overseas leave conditions and pensions of the staff. The defendant bank refused inspection and the plaintiff applied to the Court.
Held (15-11-43).—That the plaintiff is entitled to inspection of the document if it would assist him either directly or indirectly in the suit quite apart from whether he was a party to the document or whether its contents had been communicated to him.
Application allowed.
Khanna for the Applicant.
## Shapley and Dr. Mathews for the Respondents.
ORDER.—The defendants claim privilege for a document on the ground that it is irrelevant to the plaintiff's claim. The document in question, which I have examined, is dated the 22nd January, 1922, and is marked "Private Official". It was written by the then Superintendent of the defendants' East African branches to the bank managers in East Africa and purports to quote regulations which came into force on the 1st January, 1922, regarding salaries, leave conditions and pensions of the Indian staff of the defendant bank. The defendants allege that the document was only sent to the managers for guidance and that as the plaintiff was not a party to the document which was not authoritatively communicated to him and as the document did not form part of the plaintiff's contract of employment it was irrelevant. The defendants further allege that the terms set out in the document were liable to be altered, added to or revoked at the option of the bank and were altered, added to or revoked by subsequent documents. Mr. Shapley for the defendants confirmed his arguments to submitting that the document could not be held to be relevant unless it was proved to be the basis of the contract of service between the parties and that it was clear from a comparison of paragraph 1 of the plaint with paragraph 2 of the letter dated 19th May, 1943, from the plaintiff's advocates that the terms of the document were unknown to the plaintiff not only at the time of his employment but also at the time of the institution of the suit and that therefore it could not have formed the basis of his contract of service.
In my opinion the plaintiff is entitled to inspection of the document if it would assist him either directly or indirectly in the suit quite apart from whether he was a party to the document or whether its contents had been communicated to him. In my view in the circumstances of the case the document is not irrelevant to the plaintiff's suit and the plaintiff is entitled to inspection of a document which purports to show certain regulations in force in the bank at the time of his engagement. There was no written contract of service so presumably the conditions of service were governed by regulations. Even if those regulations have been altered, added to or revoked I am of the opinion that the regulations in force at the time of his engagement are not irrelevant to the plaintiff's suit on the pleadings and on the evidence before me.
I grant the application with costs against the defendants.