Tuskys wants Eastleigh landlord jailed for breach of orders
Retail chain Tuskys supermarkets has asked the High Court to jail its Eastleigh branch landlord for refusing to reopen the outlet in breach of an order from the Business Premises Rent Tribunal.
Tuskys claims in suit papers that Madina Hypermart, which houses its outlet, has refused to allow it access despite the favourable ruling by the rent tribunal.
Tuskys also claims the landlord has refused to return property taken from the store for auction following a dispute.
“Counsel for the applicant prays that Tuskys be allowed to apply to this court to commit the directors of Madina Hypermart for up to six months for disobedience of the order issued by the Business Premises Rent Tribunal on February 24,” Tuskys’ lawyer, Kamotho Macharia said.
Madina has objected to the suit and insists that the tribunal lifted the order to reopen Tuskys on March 23, and that the supermarket is trying to hoodwink the court into issuing the revoked order.
LEASE AGREEMENT
The two firms are battling over interpretation of a lease agreement. Madina shut the outlet in February and sent auctioneers to seizing property said to be worth millions of shillings.
Tuskys now says the rent tribunal had ordered Madina to reopen the store and issued orders stopping it from interfering with the supermarket’s operation. It says Madina is trying to act with impunity, and wants the court to intervene.
Tuskys opened the Eastleigh branch last year and operated on the ground floor of the five-storey building with a workforce of 70.
The supermarket told the tribunal in March that it would retain the employees should it fail to resolve the dispute with its landlord.
Madina holds that ordering it to reopen the outlet and abandon the planned auction of Tuskys’ property can only be done as a final decision on the matter.
RETURN PROPERTY
The landlord adds that the court risks interfering with proceedings before the rent tribunal if it orders it to reopen the store and return the confiscated property.
“Tuskys has failed to disclose to this court that the orders of February 24 were stayed on March 23. Therefore the February 24 orders are invalid,” Madina says.
Tuskys, which is Kenya’s second largest supermarkets chain by number of stores, is a family business jointly owned by five brothers and two sisters.
The closure comes nearly a year after it lost another outlet to Eastmatt Supermarket, which was located next to the Fire Station on Tom Mboya Street, Nairobi.
Justice Joseph Sergon yesterday granted Madina a week to file a detailed response. He adjourned the hearing of the case to June 3.
Source: Business Daily