(COURT OF APPEAL)

MUNEER MAGHARIOUS v. IBRAHIM MOHAMED ABDALLA

AC-RE V-760-1969

Principles

  Negligence—Independent contractor—Liability of the employer when the work is a joint operation

When the independent contractor and the employer are jointly engaged in performance of the work, i.e. the work is done under the direct control and supervision of the employer; in such case the employer will be liable for the negligence of the contractor.

Advocate: Abdalla Nagib………………. for the applicant

Judgment

Mahdi Mohamed Ahmed J. May 31, 1970:—In my opinion this application has no merits and ought to be dismissed. There is abundant evidence that the work was being done under the personal control and supervision of applicant. He supplied the tools. He gave the workers instructions to work additional hours. Applicant was present at the place of work and he personally gave the order to the respondent to climb the steel framework and perform the work which resulted in the accident. Hence although the work is done by an independent contractor it was done under the direct control and direction of applicant. It appears from the above that the work was a joint operation and in such case applicant will be answerable for any injuries caused by negligence in carrying out the operations. This was laid down in the case of Holliday

v. National Telephone Company [1899] 2 Q.B. 3.92. In that case the defendants were laying telephone wires along a street. The wires were passed through tubes laid in a trench under the level of the pavement. They contracted with a plumber to connect the tubes at the joint. An explosion took place as a result of the plumber’s negligence and injured a passer-by. There was evidence that the work was done under the direct supervision of the defendants. It was held that the work was a joint operation and therefore the defendants were liable.

The said decision is on all fours with the present case. Hence this application is summarily dismissed.