The High Court has thrown out British businessman Nicholas van Hoogstraten's attempt to resurrect a 2009 lawsuit over a luxury Harare property, ruling that the case was "long dead" and any order now would be "a brutum fulmen" -- an empty thunderbolt with no effect.
Justice Joel Mambara, sitting at the Harare High Court, dismissed the application, saying Van Hoogstraten had waited far too long to act and could not revive a claim that had lain dormant for 16 years.
"The horse has bolted - the ship has sailed - and it would offend the sound administration of justice to pretend otherwise," the judge said.
At the heart of the dispute is Stand No. 4 Wroxham Road, The Grange, which Van Hoogstraten bought at a 2005 sheriff's auction.
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He argued that the sale gave him indefeasible rights and accused the judgment debtor, Felistas Runyararo James, of colluding with officials to block the transfer.
But James later sold the property to the Richard Samaita Family Trust in 2013, which still holds title and was not cited in the proceedings.
Van Hoogstraten applied this year to reinstate his old summons and compel James to transfer the property.
Mambara ruled that under Practice Direction 1 of 2022, his case had already lapsed after years of inaction.
"Litigation must never be an eternal right without regulated time frames... failure to have such cut-off time frames will result in endless suits," the judge said, stressing the need for finality.
The court found that Van Hoogstraten had offered only a "partial explanation" for his delay, pointing to bureaucratic hurdles in retrieving an archived file, but ultimately failed to show good cause.
Even more decisively, Justice Mambara said the relief sought was now futile: "It would be absurd to order the first respondent to sign transfer forms for a property she sold 12 years ago and no longer owns. Courts do not engage in ceremonial exercises or issue orders that are empty of practical force."
The judge also noted that Van Hoogstraten never actually paid for the house, since the sheriff returned his cheque uncashed years ago.
"What the applicant is asking the court to do is to order specific performance when he has not paid a cent for the property. In effect, he will get the property for free."
Dismissing the application in its entirety, Justice Mambara concluded: "There comes a point when even a meritorious claim must yield to the greater good of certainty and finality. That point has long passed in this case."
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