KZN businessman vindicated by PMB court order ruling that he is not a ‘vexatious litigant’
|Published
Durban businessman Visham Panday says he has been vindicated by the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling which has dismissed, with costs, an application brought against him by Lockhat Mayat Attorneys and Brenen-Lee Wallace Govender that called his character into question.
The judgement was handed down by Judge AJ Mlotshwa on Thursday after Govender, the applicant in the matter, sought interim relief on January 18, this year, for the respondent to show cause before the court to declare Panday as a vexatious litigant in terms of section 2(1)(b) of the Vexatious Proceedings Act of 1956.
This comes after two years of back-and-forth litigation between the two parties involving cryptocurrency payments which, according to Panday, are owed to him by Govender and his lawyers.
In his founding affidavit, Panday claimed to have met Govender in October 2021 and Govender told him that he traded in cryptocurrencies.
Following this, Panday claimed Govender promised a guaranteed return of 2% on all monies invested during the month he made an investment.
Last year, Independent Media reported that Panday invested R8.9 million between October 2021 and February 2022 in Govender’s scheme.
Panday further claimed that, based on what Govender had told him, his return would be paid via a trust account held by Lockhat Mayat Attorneys. However, this was not done after Panday had on at least five occasions been promised payment by Govender, which never came.
In February 2022, Panday’s attorney, Vasu Naidoo, wrote to Lockhat Mayat Attorneys requesting answers. Panday claims his attorney did not receive any feedback.
Lockhat Mayat Attorneys denied this and provided a full history of correspondence to Naidoo. In the correspondence, they said no money was held in trust for Panday and that he was not an existing client of theirs.
Panday sought to preserve the monies held by Govender’s attorneys in Trust so he could institute action for recovery of an alleged cryptocurrency investment paid to Govender.
In a judgement delivered on Thursday, the court ruled that it was uncalled for for Panday to be declared a vexatious litigant.
“Accordingly, the application to have the respondent declared a vexatious litigant in terms of section 2(1)(b) of the Act falls to be dismissed. In result, I make the following order: the application is dismissed with costs, including costs occasioned by the appearance on January 18, 2023,” Judge Mlotshwa ruled.
Panday told Independent Media, following the judgement, that he is owed R10.4 million by Govender and his lawyers, who refuse to pay what is due to him and failed in court to prove their claims that he is a vexatious litigant.
“Mr Govender has tried to paint me as a vexatious litigant. I have been vindicated by the biggest high court in the province which found in my favour. I did everything I needed to do to comply, and for me this proves that Mr Govender is a thief who has failed to pay what is due to me. They must pay my costs as I spent more than R600 000 in legal fees. It is in black and white that I am not vexatious and if anyone is vexatious, it is Mr Govender and his lawyers,” Panday said.
Panday says he now wants Govender to pay what is due to him.
“These people must be brought to book. I have paid more than R500 000 to carry this case and I am going to be suing them ... They should have known better not to call me that,” he said.
Attempts to get comment from Mr Govender and his lawyers were not successful at the time of going to print.
Saturday Star
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