High Court halts MVR 20M settlement by MIFCO to private company

The High Court has ordered a halt to the enforcement of an MVR 20 million out-of-court settlement claimed by Employment Bureau Maldives Pvt. Ltd. from Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO), ordering a retrial in the case.

Employment Bureau Maldives had filed an MVR 20 million lawsuit against MIFCO over an oil tanker it purchased from the company for MVR 800,000 at an auction 15 years back.

Civil Court judge Faisal had ruled in favor of Employment Bureau Maldives in the case, with the ruling issued in MIFCO’s absentia. The company later filed for a review of the decision, but Civil Court judge Fahmy Ibrahim decided there were no grounds for any changes to the original ruling.

MIFCO subsequently appealed the ruling with the High Court.

At the High Court, Employment Bureau Maldives asked the court to establish it does not have the jurisdiction to hear the case. But the three-judge bench decided to proceed with the appeal.

On Monday, the court decided there was grounds to hear arguments from both sides in the case.

The court therefore ordered the Civil Court to hold a retrial in the case.

The judgement was delivered by a three-member judge composed of Mohamed Niyaz, Hussain Mazeed, and Hassan Shafeeu.