THE Supreme Court has dismissed an application for condonation and extension of time to appeal filed by the Redeemed House of God Church after its application for a spoliation order against the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) failed.
Supreme Court judge Justice Lavender Makoni in her order dismissed the application with costs.
“Whereupon, after reading documents filed of record and hearing counsel, it is ordered that: The application be and is hereby dismissed with costs on a legal practitioner-client scale,” Justice Makoni ruled.
The dismissal of the application for condonation and extension of time to appeal came after the church’s application for spoliation order was struck off the roll by High Court judge Justice Hlekani Mwayera.
The High Court had confirmed the church’s eviction from the premises it was renting from the NRZ.
The judge struck off the matter because of lack of progress following the appeal application.
In that application, Justice Mwayera did not make an order for costs.
Ojei Ventures (Pvt) Limited and Redeemed House of God Church had cited NRZ as respondent in their application.
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The church alleged that it had been forcibly evicted from the premises in Harare which it was leasing from NRZ since 2003.
NRZ has maintained that the lease was not renewed due to rental arrears.
The railways company claimed that the church accumulated more than US$200 000 in rental arrears and was given a three-month notice to vacate the premises.
When the three months lapsed, the tenant filed for spoliation at the High Court and lost.
This was the third time the appeal has been struck off the roll for not complying with court rules after the church failed to lodge security fees for costs as required by Supreme Court rules.
The church alleged it used US$1,6 million to develop the property.
