Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. In a judgment released on Friday, 18 February 2022, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismissed the appeal in the Guyanese case of Shakeela Kanhai, Evie Anne Kanhai and Miguel Gurcharan v Basantie Persaud [2022] CCJ 6 (AJ) GY. The Court also ordered the Appellants to pay costs to the Respondent.
Ms Persaud obtained a declaration of title from the Commissioner of Title to a portion of land known as Sublot X, which is the northern part of the property located at the West ½ of Lot 80 Duncan Street, Newtown, Kitty. Sublot X was subsequently passed to the late common-law husband of Ms Persaud, Mr Fletchman, when his mother Iris died in 1990. Iris had entered into an agreement in 1965 with her brother to lease Sublot X for ninety-nine (99) years, but this agreement was never executed as required by the Landlord and Tenant Act.
The declaration of title was appealed by the Appellants, who obtained, “transport,” a title document showing ownership, to the property when it was purchased by the late husband of Shakeela Kanhai. Although Mr Kanhai bought the property in 1992, it was only in 2007 that he first attempted to get possession of Sublot X.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that Mr Kanhai’s title to Sublot X expired in 2002, twelve years after Iris’ death, and that Mr Fletchman then had a right to obtain a declaration of title to that part of the property. The Appellants disagreed with that decision and appealed to the CCJ.
In a judgment written by the Honourable Mr. Justice Jacob Wit, the Court found that Iris had been given possession of Sublot X by her brother, and that this possession was maintained by Iris and continued by Mr Fletchman and Ms Persaud from 1965 onward. While the Court acknowledged that, based on the agreement, Iris’ possession of Sublot X was always with the consent of her brother, the agreement ended when she died in 1990. From that time, the possession of Sublot X as continued by Mr Fletchman and Ms Persaud became adverse to the owner of the property. Therefore, the title held under the transport to the property, which Mr Kanhai later obtained, expired in relation to Sublot X in 2002 and Mr Fletchman became entitled to a declaration of title to Sublot X.
Though Mr Kanhai attempted to obtain possession of Sublot X in 2007, this was too late as his title to that part of the property had already expired. The Court thus dismissed the appeal and awarded costs to Ms Persaud.
Mr Rajendra Poonai SC, Mr Sohan Poonai and Mr Naresh Poonai appeared for the Appellants. Mr John Lindner appeared for Ms Persaud.
The full judgment of the Court and a judgment summary are available on the Court’s website at www.ccj.org.