KAMPALA, Uganda | The High Court in Kampala has given DFCU Bank a reprieve by staying the execution of an 8 billion shilling garnishment order by Crane Management Services, a company owned by city businessman Sudhir Ruparelia.

Justice Steven Mubiru of the commercial division of ofthe High Court said that there was a real danger that if he didn’t stay an execution, DFCU’s account held at the Bank of Uganda was going to be attached. The applicant has thus demonstrated a reasonable basis to support the belief that although execution will not affect the merits of the grounds and the arguments proposed to be raised on appeal, there is a real prospect that it will not be possible for the Court of Appeal by its orders to restore the status quo if the applicant succeeds in its appeal.

Although the Court of Appeal would ordinarily order the restoration of the status quo ante by directing the respondent to refund money recovered in execution of the decree, the difficulty facing the applicant is that the extent of the powers granted to the respondent by its principal and the extent to which the principal is bound to bear the liabilities of the respondent are unknown and may not be revealed on the appeal, the judge ruled.

Crane Management Services is the manager and letting agent of Meera Investments Limited, which legally owns multiple properties of Sudhir Ruparelia. After the closure of Crane Bank Limited and its accounts transferred to DFCU Bank, Crane Management Services entered into a five-year tenancy agreement with DFCU Bank starting in October 2013. However, according to court records, DFCU defaulted on its obligations, which allowed Crane Management Services to sue them for the recovery of US dollars 385,728 and 2.998 billion shillings.

In 2024, the High Court allowed Crane Management Services application and thus ordered DFCU Bank to pay the outstanding debt and also 400 million shillings with a 10 per cent interest in damages. It’s this money that has now risen to billion shillings that Crane Management Services wanted to recover by attaching the DFCU Bank account held at the Bank of Uganda.

Justice Mubiru, in his ruling, said that there was substantive evidence to suggest that the Court of Appeal might overturn the decision of the High Court. ”Having perused the judgement, the pleadings and the proceedings leading to the judgement, I have formed the opinion that there is a reasonable basis in law and equity supported by a good faith argument. It is therefore possible that the Court of Appeal could reasonably conclude differently from that of the trial court… All in all, on account of the nature of the issues to be canvassed on appeal vis-à-vis the legal status of the respondent and its doubtful financial means, the applicant has established a reasonable basis for sustaining the belief that there is a real prospect that the appeal may be rendered nugatory, the judge ruled.