Bahrain: Popular Restaurant Cleared Of BD53,000 Municipal Fees
The High Commercial Appeals Court has overturned a ruling that required a well-known restaurant in a commercial complex to pay BD53,000 in fees to the Capital Municipality.
This decision came after the restaurant provided a certificate from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, confirming the cancellation of its commercial registration and the return of the property keys to the commercial complex at a later date.
The Capital Municipality had demanded payment of municipal fees starting in April 2020, despite the fact that the commercial registration had been cancelled in March of the same year.
The lawyer representing the restaurant explained that his client had been renting a property in the commercial complex in Manama for its business activities.
The Capital Municipality filed a lawsuit seeking to compel the restaurant to pay municipal fees for the period from April 1, 2020, to November 30, 2021, totaling BD53,600, along with 10% interest from the due date.
The municipality argued that the restaurant had rented the property in the commercial complex and refused to pay the imposed fees, amounting to BD2,680 per month, for a period of 20 months. Initially, the lower court ruled in favour of the municipality after sending a notification via email.
However, the restaurant’s owners did not respond because the email address used had been cancelled.
The restaurant’s owners appealed the ruling, but the Court of Appeals ruled that their right to appeal had been forfeited.
The restaurant’s legal representative then filed an appeal with the Court of Cassation, explaining that the lease contract with the company that owns the commercial complex had been cancelled and the keys had been returned in March 2020.
The legal representative referred to Article 4/32 of the Civil Procedure Code, which allows for legally established electronic notifications.
He argued that the ruling should be overturned because the email address used was no longer valid after the cancellation of the branch.
The Court of Cassation sent the case back to the Court of Appeals to re-examine it.
