The Constitutional Court has ordered the Land Registrar to transfer
back a plot of land sold to PS (Principal Secretary) Maryse Berlouis by the
government in 2010, and has ordered the former to return the land to its
rightful owner within 30 days of its retransfer.
The court made the order on Tuesday when it said the sale of
the land in question was illegal and in violation of the petitioner’s right to
property.
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| M.Berlouis |
It explained that the land was sold to PS Berlouis whilst
protracted negotiation was underway, meaning the government was already under
obligation to return it to its former owner.
Under the constitution, more specifically Schedule 7, the
government is obligated to return land to former owners, in instances where it is
undeveloped or there is no plan for development.
The court concluded that in selling it to PS Berlouis five
years ago, the government deliberately ignored the constitution which says land
cannot be returned in two instances, when it is in the public interest, or when
it is developed or there is a future plan for development.
Schedule 7 was thought up to exclusively limit the free rein
the government enjoyed during one party state to acquire land.
It imposes that land acquired prior to 1993 is returned to
rightful owners, or in the event this is not practical, owners are compensated for
losses incurred.
The underlying principle of the Schedule is to assert that
no more land is acquired by the state unless it is in the public interest, or
to correct injustices of the past when those whose land was taken could not seek
recourse.
In that instance the court explained that in the case of the
land sold to PS Berlouis, the transfer did not convey any lawful title onto
her, since the transfer was illegal to being with in the first place.
It accordingly declared the transfer null and void, noting
that the court cannot rely on its own illegal act not to transfer the land back
to the petitioner.
The petitioner’s claim throughout the 8-years the trial has been
ongoing was that the sale was illegal since it failed to award proper regard to
the country’ constitution, which says the government has a constitutional obligation
to return land acquired under the one party rule to the people who held
ownership of these lands prior to July of 1993.
It was argued that in awarding the land to PS Berlouis, the
state rendered a favour to the PS, insisting that people of her status should
not be in position to purchase land from the government.
Furthermore it
claimed that the sale placed the government in a position to later claim that
it is not in a position to return the land, as it no longer held its deed.
This is exactly the position the government took in court,
leading the latter to conclude that the transfer was done in bad faith.
PS Berlouis for her part claimed she was a bona-fide
purchaser of the land, asserting that she paid a sum of R175,000 for the
transfer.
The court however said her claim is very much in doubt,
given that she was a high government official at the time of the purchase, being
the Principal Secretary for Investment, Entrepreneurship, Development and
Business Innovation.
It said the least the PS could do is to advance a claim
through a civil suit, which anyhow cannot overturn the ruling of the
Constitutional Court, for the petitioner holds the supreme rights to the land,
and not her.
Speaking to LSH afterwards, a jubilant petitioner said he
had waited eight years for the good news.
Source: Le Seychellois Hebdo
