Court Rules in Favour of Castle oil

Senior Magistrate Abdoulie Mbackeh of the Kanifing Magistrates' Court on 15th December 2008 delivered a ruling in favour of Castle Oil against Slok Air.

The ruling was in respect of an application made by Lawyer Badou S. M Conteh, counsel for the plaintiffCastle Oil, to tender some documents and the objection made by the defendant Slok Air, Lawyer Chime.

In his ruling Magistrate Mbackeh stated that the invoices tendered by Lawyer Badou Conteh as exhibits were carbon copies of the originals. He indicated that both original and duplicate were prepared in one process and that it was similar to the typewriter process in which the original and the duplicate are typed out during one process. He further said that everything looked the same, adding that what was contained in the original was the same thing that appeared on the duplicate too.

Magistrate Mbackeh added that the signed duplicate in the case was as good as the original and a staff of Slok Air International had endorsed both duplicates. He said that for that reason alone, the court had to admit the documents as exhibits.

The plaintiff Castle Oil is claiming the sum of $12,600 from the defendant Slok Air being the unpaid balance of money owed to the plaintiff by the defendant in respect of aviation fuel jet 1A supplied by the plaintiff to the defendant. The sum of D30, 000 was also claimed by the plaintiff being general damages for breach of contract.