The strike-out application hearing in the case of Sun Insurance Company Limited vs the State will continue in the Suva High Court at 9.30am on Monday after a long day of debate before Judge Justice David Alfred today.
Sun Insurance Company Limited is seeking judicial relief for the uncompensated deprivation of its property, following the commencement of the Accident Compensation Act enacted by Parliament last year.
The company claims that the repeal of the Motor Vehicles Third Party Insurance Act 1948 effectively extinguished the Third Party Insurance business it had conducted for the past 18 years.
Speaking on the strike-out application grounds by the State, Solicitor General Sharvada Sharma highlighted that the application by Sun Insurance Company Limited is densely out of time because the application was made sixty days from when the issue first arose which was July 14th last year.
Sharma said there were also numerous consultations with Sun Insurance about the law reform before the bill was tabled in parliament.
The Solicitor General also said that the second ground of their application was that there is no reasonable cause of action as the plaintiff has misconstrued the operation of the old act.
Sharma said vehicle owners are already paying their levy so challenging the act will cause hardship.
Lawyer, Julian Moti who is representing Sun Insurance said the strikeout application undermines the right of their client under the constitution to seek constitutional redress.
In their submission, Moti said the matter first arose on the 1st of January this year when part of the section of the act came into force.
Moti said they made their application for constitutional redress on the 28th of February this year.
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