St Nicholas Grammar School Ltd (Appellant) v Arnulphy and another (Respondents) (Mauritius)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2019/0005

Jurisdiction

Mauritius

Parties

Appellant(s)

St Nicholas Grammar School Ltd

Respondent(s)

Arnulphy and another

Issue

Whether the Fair Rent Tribunal made an error of law when determining the fair market rent to be paid by the Appellant to the First Respondent in respect of land and buildings used by the Appellant as a school in Phoenix, Mauritius.

Facts

The Appellant is a school in Phoenix, Mauritus and first rented a building from the First Respondent on the site in 2000. The site which is the subject of this appeal is state land which is now being leased by the Ministry of Housing and Lands to the First Respondent.The Appellant and the First Respondent made lease agreements in 2000 and 2003. In 2012, having failed to agree a new lease and believing that the rent being paid was below the market rental value, the First Respondent applied to the Second Respondent, the Fair Rent Tribunal, to set the fair market rent at Rs 190,000 per month. The Second Respondent fixed the market rent at Rs 94,000 per month.The Appellant appealed to the Supreme Court of Mauritius. The Appellant argued that the Second Respondent did not have jurisdiction to determine the rent on the application of the First Respondent, who was herself a lessee, and that it further determined the rent for too large an area of land, when its assessment should have been limited to a single building. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. The Appellant now appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Date of issue

9 January 2019

Judgment details

Judgment date

23 May 2022

Neutral citation

[2022] UKPC 23

Judgment links

Appeal

Justices

Lord Reed

Lord Briggs

Lord Leggatt

Lord Burrows

Lord Stephens

Hearing dates

Start date

9 May 2022

End date

9 May 2022

Watch hearings

Back to top