DIPAK P. SHAH V. SUDHIR K. SHAH, HARSHIDA S. SHAH, DEEPA S. SHAH, PARAG S. SHAH, VIJAYKUMAR K. SHAH, JAYOTIKA SHAH, MEERA V. SHAH, NAMAN V. SHAH, MANDEEP V. SHAH, KAMAL K. SHAH, KASHMINA K. SHAH, SAWAN K. SHAH, NIKITA K. SHAH, KANTABEN C. SHAH, RAKSHIT C. SHAH, DIPESH C. KARMAN, VANDANA C. SHAH, GANDABEN K. SHAH, SHEETAL KAPILA, ISHAN KAPILA, LAMA LIMITED, PANACHAND J. SHAH, HANSRAJ F. GUDKA, ABDUL AZIZ LALANI, PANACHAND J. DEDHIA, ATUL H. GUDKA, RELIANCE BANK LTD (IN LIQUIDATION), DEPOSIT PROTECTION BOARD & CENTRAL BANK OF KENYA

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

The appellant, Dipak P. Shah is aggrieved by the ruling and order of the High Court at Nairobi, (Emukule, J.), dated 15th September 2004 in which the learned judge declined to strike out High Court Civil Suit No 728 of 2003. The learned judge held, among others, that the said suit discloses a reasonable cause of action and is not an abuse of the process of the court. In this appeal the appellant however, urges us to hold otherwise and find that the suit is statute-barred, allow the appeal, and strike out the suit.

The short background to the suit is as follows. By a plaint dated 12th November 2003, respondents Nos. 1 to 18 (whom, for convenience, we shall refer to as “the plaintiffs”), filed suit against the appellant and the respondents Nos. 19to 29 (“the defendants”). The plaintiffs pleaded that in 1998 they purchased Bearer Certificate Deposits from the 28^th Respondent, Reliance Bank (the Bank) at a total sum of Kshs 176,050,000.00. In November 1998, the plainti…