Preface

66
of the subject matter of the claim and detailed explanation of it and how its cause
of action accrued.
The plaintiff’s statement of claim above does not, under Islamic law as well
as the rules of the lower court; qualify to be a valid claim. Certain questions such
as full description of the estate, the name of the late mother, the date of her death,
her survivors etc were all left unanswered and unresolved. Order II Rule 3 (2) of
the rules of the lower court provides that no claim shall be entertained if such claim
does not contain: (i) the occupation, full name, description and residence or place
of business of the plaintiff, (ii) the full name and the residence or place of business
of the defendant and (where known) his description and (iii) a short statement of
the cause of action, or remedy or relief sought. The claim before the court did not
satisfy the above criteria most especially item (iii). The record should have
contained Ua short statement of the cause of action, or remedy or reliefs sought as
required by law to enable a third party knowU the claim before the lower court.
Additionally, Order XIII Rule 77 (2) provides that in inheritance cases, application
for distribution of estate of a deceased person shall contain the name of the
deceased, the time of death, the estate sought to be distributed and the names of all
the heirs. In fact sub-rule 4 of the same rule went further to vitiate any proceedings
conducted in contravention of this requirement. In the whole record of
proceedings, there was no place therein where the name of the deceased, whose
property (No. 2 Mantel Street Banjul) was to be shared, was mentioned even once.
The non compliance with these provisions is fatal to the case and the intervention
of this panel is justified on that ground.