GHANA RAILWAY AND PORTS AUTHORITY V. OKAKBU AND OTHERS

ABBAN J.: The applicants as the co-defendants have moved the court under Order 12, r. 24 of the Supreme [High] Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 1954 (L.N. 140A), for an order setting aside the service of the writ of summons effected on them. Their main ground is that the action is statue-barred. The said rule reads as follows:

“A defendant before appearing shall be at liberty, without obtaining an order to enter or entering a conditional appearance, to take out a summons or serve notice of motion to set aside the service upon him of the writ or of notice of the writ, or to discharge the order authorising such service.”

The first, second and third plaintiffs together with three other persons were passengers on a vehicle driven by the second defendant. The said vehicle collided with a train at the railway level crossing at Alajo, Accra; and as a result the first, second and third plaintiffs sustained injuries, but the other three passengers were killed. The first, second and third plaintiff…