Kwila Insurance Corporation v Kwangtun Pty Ltd

• Jurisdiction: Papua New Guinea
• Citation: [1992] PNGLR 200
• Date: 10 July 1992
• Court: National Court
• Year: 1992

National Court: Sheehan J

Judgment Delivered: 10 July 1992

1 Contract—sale of land—breach—specific performance ordered—performance of order by execution of fresh agreement—claim order thus varied—claim order failed by lapse of time

2 Real property—contract of sale of land—delay in obtaining ministerial approval—declaration that contract of sale to be rescinded failed

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Sheehan J: This is a case where a vendor, having contracted to sell a property to a purchaser, subsequently received a better offer for the property and sought to avoid his contract with the original purchaser. This obliged the purchaser to come to the National Court to obtain an order that the contract of sale entered into by the parties be specifically performed.

The parties are now back in court. This time it is the vendor who is the plaintiff. It seeks a declaration that, because the required statutory approval of the Minister for Lands to the transaction has not been obtained within the time stipulated in the contract of sale signed by the parties subsequent to the court order, the contract between the parties is automatically rescinded. The sequence of events backgrounding the application is as follows.

On 17 May 1990, the National Court made an order that the agreement for the sale of Lot 3 Section 451 Hohola, made between the parties in July 1987, be carried out. The order is made in the following terms.

The Court orders that—

1. The defendant sells that portion of land known as Lot 3 Section 451 Hohola to the plaintiff at the price of K49,000.00 within two months.

2. The defendant takes all steps necessary to obtain approval under s69 of the Land Act (Ch185) to transfer the title of the state lease being Lot 3 Section 451 Hohola to the plaintiff.

3. The defendant to pay the plaintiff plaintiff's taxed costs. [Ordered 17 May 1990 and entered 1 June 1990.]

On 28 June 1990, the vendor's solicitors, "pursuant to the...