CORAM
ADEMOLA, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
LEWIS, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
MADARIKAN, JUSTICE, SUPREME COURT
PARTIES
A. O. IBENWELU APPELLANTS
RESPONDENTS
AREA(S) OF LAW
SUMMARY OF FACTS
The plaintiff bought a piece of land from one Latifu Akanbi Tiamiyu Durojaiye Ajia who executed in his favour a deed of conveyance in 1960 and was duly registered. He was in peaceful and undisturbed possession of the land until 1963 when the defendant entered thereon and erected a fence wall and building on a portion of the land despite protests by the plaintiff.
HELD
The Court set aside the order awarding £100 as general damages/damages in lieu of injunction and awarded £150 damages in lieu of injunction limiting it to the portion of the plaintiffs land necessary for the defendant to retain his building and satisfy the building regulations.
ISSUES
Whether the learned trial judge erred in law in awarding damages to the appellant in lieu of granting him an injunction and giving him possession since the appellant never claim damages as an alternative to his claim for an injunction and possession, and the decision did not meet the justice of the case.
RATIONES DECIDENDI
CONDITIONS FOR GRANTING DAMAGES IN LIEU OF INJUNCTION
Without attempting to lay down any settled rule, it seems to us that there is a justification for the exercise of the discretionary power where the interference with the injury to the legal right is (1) small; (2) capable of being estimated in money; (3) capable of being adequately compensated by a small sum; and (4) such that it would be oppressive to the defendant to grant an injunction. These conditions must however co-exist; otherwise the effect of making an award of damages in lieu of an injunction might be to compel the plaintiff to part with his property for money. Per Madarikan, JSC
CONDITIONS FOR GRANTING DAMAGES IN LIEU OF INJUNCTION
The golden rule is that where a plaintiffs legal right has been invaded and there is a continuance or threat of a continuance of such invasion, he is entitled to an injunction. But the court may, in its discretion, award damages either in addition to or in lieu of an injunction whether damages have also been specifically claimed or not. Unless there are exceptional circumstances to justify such a course, this discretionary power ought not to be exercised. Per Madarikan, JSC
PLEADING EQUITABLE DEFENCES
It is trite law that all equitable defences must be pleaded fully and with due particularity. Per Madarikan, JSC
CASES CITED
Shelfer v. City of London Electric Lighting Company 1895 1 Ch. 287 at p. 322
STATUTES REFERRED TO