Court Allows Moi Family, Rai to Appeal sh 1B Property Case

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Saturday, October 7, 2023 –Billionaire Jaswant Rai has found a reprieve over a sh 1 billion court case in which an Eldoret family is seeking compensation over the 53-acre of land.

Susan Chelugui and her son David Chelugui had gone to the Supreme Court seeking orders to overturn an earlier court verdict that had allowed Rai to appeal the case that would see him handover the Rai Plywood land or pay owners another sh 1 billion in compensation.

The applicants argued that the wealthy families of Moi and Rai had forcefully taken their 53-acre land in Eldoret and, hence, should be compelled to pay them sh 1 billion compensation; a verdict which was delivered in 2019 by the Environment and Land Court.

However, the seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court has dismissed the application, giving the green light for Moi and Rai families to appeal.

“All other issues raised by the applicant are in the circumstances completely misguided and do not require our attention at all. Consequently, and without saying more, we deem the application before us frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of the process of court,” the ruling read in part.

Susan Chelugui and her son had sued Moi and billionaire investor Jaswant Rai for allegedly taking their 53-acre land in Eldoret in 1983.

In the court documents, the two argued that the Moi family took the land from them in 1983 and sold it to Rai Plywood, a firm owned by businessman Jaswant Rai.

The case proceeded to the Environment and Land Court, which ruled in favour of Chelugui’s family and ordered Moi and Rai to pay sh 1 billion as compensation accrued over the years.

This would later be appealed by senior counsel Zehrabanu Janmohamed, who represented the Moi family and sought to overturn the ruling.

In July 2022, the Court of Appeal, however, upheld the ruling, saying that the acquisition of the land by the Moi family was arbitrary deprivation of property.

In order to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the land belonged to the Chelugui family, the Court of Appeal ordered them to provide additional evidence to prove ownership of the disputed land.

In its ruling, the Appellate court also allowed Moi and Rai to appeal the sh 1 billion amount as compensation in the case.