Contract of sale vital, says Bidar

By TABITHA NERO
Any dealing with land must have a contract of sale, says Waigani Committal Court magistrate Cosmas Bidar.
“The most important evidence in the sale of land and property is a contract of sale,” Bidar said.
He made these comments after dismissing the case of two businessmen who allegedly conspired to transfer the title of a property belonging to someone else to their names at Waigani Committal Court yesterday.
Hamono Tayago and Kunago Meria, both from the Tari district of Hela, were charged with conspiring with a Peter Tagalabe to transfer the title of a property allegedly belonging to a Mark Mokono in Hohola in the National Capital District (NCD) to themselves between Oct 6 and 8 last year.
The court heard that Tagalabe, who was the first owner of the property, had agreed to transfer the title originally to Mokono if Mokono agreed to help him (Tagalabe) repay a loan from the ANZ Bank.
The court heard that Mokono helped repay Tagalabe’s loan but between Oct 6 and 8 last year, Tagalabe transferred the title of the property to Tayago and Meria who paid K26,000 for it.
Bidar said there was no evidence that Mokono had made payments to Tagalabe, but there was evidence of the transfer of title from Tagalabe to Tayago and Meria.
Bidar also pointed out that there was no contract of sale between Tagalabe and Mokono.
“There is clearly lack of evidence because the most important evidence is the contract of sale which is not contained in the police brief,” Bidar said.
He dismissed the matter and ordered a refund of Tayago and Meria’s bail money.