A court in the UK has ruled that businessman Sudhir Ruparelia and his Crane Bank Ltd associates do not have to deposit security in their bid to claim compensation from the dfcu Bank, and her key directors all before the UK courts.
The bank made an application for orders that Cranes Bank Limited provides security for their costs up to and including the case management conference.
However in an October 30 ruling, the London court noted that it is satisfied Crane Bank has shown it has the ability to pay for costs if there is need.
“The second claimant(Sudhir Ruparelia) is a person of very considerable wealth. In 2019, the second claimant’s wealth was estimated by Forbes to be some 1.2 billion USD. His substantial wealth includes Ugandan assets in the region of 279 million USD, including unencumbered land and buildings of about 47 million USD and bank deposits of over 7 million USD, and property in the United Kingdom owned with his family valued at between £4.5 million and £5.5 million,” Justice Stephen Hofmeyr KC who handled the matter said.
He said dfcu bank didn’t file any application for security against the Sudhir, adding that in any case, the court would have jurisdiction to make such an order if it were sought.
“ If the defendants(dfcu bank) had been of the view that an application against the second claimant would succeed, the likelihood is that such an application would have been pursued.”
The judge explained that in the past, all costs orders which have been made in the case against Crane Bank have been settled promptly.
“To date the claimants(Carane bank) have made payments of £1,355,956 to the defendants to satisfy adverse costs orders, although some of those have had to be repaid. As regards any costs orders in the future, the judge’s discretion in costs at the conclusion of the trial is very wide.”
The judge insisted there is no proof that in case of costs, enforcement of the same in Uganda would be difficult.
“For the reasons I have given, the applications for security are dismissed.”
Crane Bank sought redress in the UK High Court in December 2020 challenging the sale of some assets and transfer of some of the liabilities to DFCU by Bank of Uganda in 2017.
Initially, the UK High Court dismissed Crane Bank’s suit, after it was challenged by DFCU, on grounds that it was based on actions done by the Bank of Uganda and therefore not triable in the UK.
However, the Court of Appeal of the UK later ruled that some of the acts were commercial in nature and therefore triable in England.
