Supreme Court: Mandhu College agreement was terminated unlawfully

The Supreme Court of the Maldives has ruled that the agreement the government had with Male’ High which ran the Mandhu College, was terminated unlawfully. 

The agreement the government had with Mandhu College, was terminated, and the institution was ordered to vacate the premises of the MES Building where the college was run 2015. The Education Ministry had awarded the building to the company to run an international high school for a period of ten years in 2008. 

Male’ High, submitted the case to the Civil Court in 2016 requesting damages and legal fees as compensation. The Civil Court ruled against the College which led to an appeal to the High Court.

The appeal court then ruled in favor of the College determining that the agreement was terminated unlawfully and that the College could claim for compensation against the state. The appeal court did not, however, rule that the College could claim for legal fees totaling MVR 53,000.

The case was again appealed to the Supreme Court today which upheld the verdict of the High Court. The top court found that the state had not been able to prove that the school wasn’t operating which was the reason why the College was ordered to close down.

The verdict also read that the Education Ministry was required to issue permits to Male’ High for the school, which was not provided when the company was ordered to close down the college and vacate the premises. The verdict also read that the state had not taken any action against the company for failure to operate the school within six years of awarding the company the contract.

The justices who were presiding over the case also ruled that the Education Ministry terminated the agreement under good faith after finding that the agreement with the College was not made in a manner most compatible to run a high school and also noted that the facts presented in the case show that the state did not take measures to reduce damages it may be inflicted. 

The bench of Justices who were presided over the case comprised of Justice Ali Rasheed Hussain, Justice Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim and Chief Justice Muththassim Adnan.