The Supreme Court of New Zealand has dismissed an application for leave to appeal by former Fiji lawyer, Doctor Mohammed Shamsud-Dean Sahu Khan against a Mohammed Shariff after Doctor Sahu Khan paid Shariff $173,000 to get an appointment in Fiji, only to get no such appointment.
According to the court, Doctor Sahu Khan migrated to New Zealand in 2011 and some time after that, in late 2012 and early 2013, Doctor Sahu Khan said that he was contacted by Shariff.
Doctor Sahu Khan claims that Shariff told him that, in view of Doctor Sahu Khan’s qualifications, the Prime Minister and Attorney General of Fiji wanted Shariff to act as an intermediary to arrange to appoint Doctor Sahu Khan as the Chief Legal Advisor of Fiji on constitutional matters or to be a member of the Fiji Constitutional Reform Committee.
Doctor Sahu Khan claims that the salary for that position was said to be approximately $3 million a year.
Doctor Sahu Khan claims that Shariff then made a series of representations about various sums Doctor Sahu Khan needed to pay to facilitate the appointment.
Doctor Sahu Khan told the NZ High Court that he trusted Shariff and in reliance on the representations he paid Shariff $173,000 for this purpose.
No appointment was made and Doctor Sahu Khan filed proceedings in the High Court in deceit to recover both the sum that he had paid to Shariff and also the money apparently owed because there was no appointment.
Doctor Sahu Khan did not plead there was a contract between him and Shariff.
Shariff did not participate in the proceeding and it proceeded by way of formal proof.
Both the High Court and Court of Appeal have dismissed the case.
The NZ Supreme Court has ruled that there is nothing to indicate any matter of general or public importance or of commercial importance arises.
It also says that there is no appearance of a miscarriage of justice.
