A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the preliminary objection filed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and Zain Nigeria in a N200million copyright suit filed against them by a television production company.
Justice G.O. Kolawole, who gave the ruling in the suit filed by T.V. Xtra Production Limited, said the preliminary objection filed on June 8, 2009, by the NUC against the hearing of the substantive matter before the court by the defendants lacked merit.
He said the arguments of the defence counsel, S.O. Yahaya in his preliminary objection on the “non justiceability of the suit and non disclosure of any reasonable cause of action” wasn’t enough to dismiss the case of the plaintiff against the first and second defendants.
Justice Kolawole ruled that it would be against the tenets of justice for the court to refer to the facts pleaded in the statement of defence in order to resolve the issue as to whether the plaintiff’s claim are justiceable or whether the suit discloses a reasonable cause of action.
“To do so will be to subject only pleaded facts not yet proven by admissible and tested evidence to judicial findings and determination.
“That will be contrary to the dictate of the constitution which requires the court to accord both parties a fair hearing and will run foul of the established judicial decisions by which a preliminary objection is to be resolved on the facts as pleaded or presented by the plaintiff,” the judge said.
He added that it will neither serve the interest of justice nor of fairly hearing both parties to shut out the plaintiff from the seat of justice by peremptorily striking out and dismissing the plaintiff’s action on the grounds that the suit is not justiceable, and doesn’t disclose a reasonable cause of action against the first defendants without affording the plaintiff the benefit of hearing based on the facts pleaded in its statement of claim.
Consequently, he said further that (the court) shall set down a date for the determination of the substantive suit which had suffered several delays since 2009 because of the several interlocutory applications filed by the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC).
The judge directed counsels to the defendants, Yahaya and A. J. Ajala to file their statement of defence, adding that “I want to hear both parties through their counsel as to suitable date for trial.”
The plaintiff in the writ of summons is seeking a declaration that the decision of the NUC to approve the programme called “Acada Quiz,” Zain African Challenge” and “ University Challenge” in favour of the second defendant is an infringement of the copyright of the plaintiff.
Also, the plaintiff is seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants and their agents from producing, airing, marketing or exercising any right in respect of the mentioned programmes.
T. V. Xtra Production Limited is similarly asking for an order compelling the defendants to pay N200million as general damages for airing the programmes and another N3million being the cost of the legal action.
