Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
A High Court Judge has resolved a long-standing dispute between a pair of friends and businessmen over a parcel of land that was left over from a business venture that did not materialise.
Delivering a judgment late last month, Justice Jacqueline Wilson determined a lawsuit between Om Prakash Maraj and Dev Debideen over a 0.4054-hectare parcel of land located off the Churchill Roosevelt Highway in Aranguez.
Maraj and Debideen were equal shareholders in Seasons Ltd, a company they formed with the intention of establishing a commercial mall in Aranguez.
The project was expected to be financed by Maraj, with Debideen providing technical expertise.
Between 1998 and 1999, the company purchased three parcels of land using funds advanced by Maraj and his son Rajiv’s company, Maraj Gold Ltd.
A debenture was issued under which Seasons agreed to pay Maraj Gold its $13 million debt.
Signature Properties Ltd, another company jointly owned by Maraj and Debideen, purchased another adjoining plot for $1,041,945.53, allegedly using Maraj Gold funds.
Between 2002 and 2003, two payments of $840,000 and $7,158,274.71 were made to Seasons for the purchase of two of the three plots.
The plots were transferred to a company owned by Rajiv and his wife. The third plot was conveyed to another company.
Rajiv was eventually appointed as the receiver of Seasons.
There was litigation between Seasons and Maraj Gold against Debideen, his wife and his company over the validity of the debenture, and it was upheld.
Seasons then brought a lawsuit against Signature, alleging that the parcel it held was on trust for Seasons.
Debideen intervened on behalf of Signature under the Companies Act as he claimed that the plot held by Signature was jointly purchased by Maraj and him, with him allegedly contributing US$100,000.
He claimed that the land was purposely excluded from the debenture and was not held on trust for Seasons as claimed.
In determining the case, Justice Wilson held that the land was held on trust as claimed, as he noted that Debideen did not provide any evidence proving his alleged contribution.
“It is inherently unlikely that a contribution of that magnitude would have been omitted from all contemporaneous records and overlooked in the context of proceedings directed specifically at establishing the beneficial ownership of the Signature Land,” Justice Wilson said.
“I consider the assertion to be no more than a recent innovation calculated to embellish Mr Debideen’s opposition to the claim,” she added.
She also found that the legality of the debenture could not now be challenged after being previously determined by a judge and considered by the Court of Appeal.
Seasons was represented by Terrence Bharath and Shiv Sharma. Signature and Debideen were represented by Rishi Dass, Aadam Hosein and Anil Maraj.
