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Space Lounge withdraws case to seek out of court settlement

By MAUREEN KAKAH November 29th, 2016 2 min read

A popular city joint, which has been at the center of legal battles with area residents and City Hall over its operational business permit, got a reprieve after agreeing to settle its case out of court.

Parties in the case on Monday told High Court judge George Odunga that a notice to withdraw the case had been filed and they had consented to it.

Subsequently, Justice Odunga acceded to the request in the case in which Space Lounge Bar and Grill, which is situated along Ngong road, sued the Nairobi County government.

“Owing to the fact that a notice to withdraw this matter has been filed and brought to the attention of this court, I hereby mark the file as withdrawn,” said the judge.

Trouble started brewing up at the joint’s premises way back in February when the joint was first issued with a closure notice and was asked to conduct a noise pollution audit as well as comply with noise control regulations.

SOUND-PROOFED

In August, some area residents sued that joint while calling for its shut down for playing loud music especially at night.

And Resident Magistrate Margaret Murage ordered that the joint be temporary closed until the case is determined and that it presents an Environmental Impact Assessment license, which would mean that it has complied with the required regulation on noise as well as vibration pollution.

The Magistrate had also issued temporary orders revoking the joint’s new operating business permit.

But in September, the joint agreed with the Nairobi County government to settle the matter amicably out of court and had the case withdrawn.

However, the following month, the joint was back in court with a new suit challenging the revocation of its license.

In the case documents, they claimed that they had had their premises sound-proofed as per NEMA’s standards and even obtained the Environmental Impact Assessment report.

JOINT’S CLOSURE

They argued that it was unfair for them to be denied a license after being made to go through all those processes on the basis of noise pollution.

They also argued that the joint’s closure would affect payment of its workers, security guards as well as suppliers.

Early this month, when City Hall raided its premises and had some of its belongings carted away owing to claims that its license had been revoked, they went back to court to protest being denied an operating business permit.

They had accused the alleged revocation of its license and the denial of permit as well as the raid as arbitrary and attributed it to business rivalry.

The withdrawal of the case consequently means that the joint is on its way back to peaceful business and that the beef concerning its license has been settled.