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The court has exclusive jurisdiction in civil causes and matters relating to or connected with any labour, employment, trade unions, industrial relations and matters arising from workplace, the conditions of service, including health, safety, welfare of labour, employee, worker and matter incidental thereto or connected therewith.

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EXTRA: Industrial Court rejects application to recall witness


2491 Thursday 14th November 2019

Industrial Court rejects application to recall witness

 

His Lordship, Hon. Justice Ikechi Nweneka of the National Industrial Court, Lagos Judicial Division has dismissed the application filed by Brunel Logistics and Global Solutions limited to recall witness in a matter brought by Kingsley Egbuna for lacking merit.


The court maintained that to leave the attainment of justice at large and ignore the rules of the Court is to establish a subjective course of action which could lead to judicial tyranny.


The applicant had sought for an order granting leave to recall witness to tender or present additional evidence under subpoena to the Court.


In response, Mrs Chinwe Chiwete Esq Counsel for the Kingsley submitted that once a document is tendered in evidence and marked rejected, it cannot be re-tendered urged the Court to refuse the application with a punitive cost.


Learned Counsel for the Defendant, Mr Bodurin Adewole Esq submitted that the document is relevant and material to the defence and counterclaim that the Court has the power to exercise its discretion in favour of the Defendant urged the Court to grant the application.


Delivering on the ruling, the presiding Judge, Hon. Justice Nweneka stressed that Rules of the Court make adequate provisions for recall of witnesses and the need to adopt another procedure does not arise.


“The document sought to be tendered is the same bank statements which were tendered and rejected and so marked in the proceeding. Can I in good conscience and in disregard of my own ruling allow a recall of Defendant witness to tender the same document which has been marked rejected? I do not think so. 


“Having been marked rejected, it is too late in the day to seek to re-tender it. This is so notwithstanding that the error in respect of which it was rejected has been cured and the document is allegedly ‘relevant and material to the defence and counterclaim of the Defendant’.” Justice Nweneka ruled.