CELEX: C1999/174/22
Language: en
Date: 1999-06-19 00:00:00
Title: Case T-77/99: Action brought on 2 April 1999 by Girish Ojha against the Commission of the European Communities

19.6.1999             EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                         C 174/11
Finally, the applicant pleads infringement of fundamental                The applicant was subsequently refused registration of his
Community rights, alternatively of rights equivalent thereto, in         vehicle. He learned thereafter that the chassis number of his
the form of a disproportionate impairment, contrary to the               vehicle had been blocked by the customs service by reason of
principle of the protection of legitimate expectations, of the           the fact that the Commission had not supplied the Belgian
commercial enterprise set up and operated by the applicant,              Customs and Excise Administration with relevant and necess-
viewed as a property right. According to the applicant, there            ary information that had been requested a number of times.
has been an infringement of the guaranteed right to have
access to legal remedies (see Article 19(4) of the German Basic          The applicant maintains that the Commission is liable to him
Law), which is enshrined in the German constitution but which            for the following failures in its administrative system:
also falls to be observed in the context of Community law.
                                                                         — The Commission did not ensure that the applicant’s
                                                                              individual file contained all the important and relevant
(1) OJ L 208 of 24.7.1992, p. 1.                                              documents which it should have contained in order to
                                                                              enable it to give the Belgian authorities correct and
                                                                              complete information;
                                                                         — the Commission did not correctly defend the applicant’s
                                                                              interests before the Belgian authorities, in that they insisted
                                                                              on 1 November 1992 as the date on which he assumed
                                                                              his duties, whereas his individual file contained two
                                                                              documents showing that it was 5 January 1993;
Action brought on 2 April 1999 by Girish Ojha against
       the Commission of the European Communities                        — the Commission did not appear to know the terms of the
                                                                              agreements concluded with the Belgian Ministry of Finance
                                                                              and did not make the effort to become acquainted with
                         (Case T-77/99)                                       them.
                        (1999/C 174/22)                                  The material damage comprises the cost of hiring a vehicle
                                                                         identical to the applicant’s, at the rate of BFR 2 200 per day
                                                                         for the period from 1 February 1996 until 31 December 1997.
                                                                         The applicant considers that the non-material damage may
                   (Language of the case: French)                        fairly be assessed at BFR 300 000, since he suffered significant
                                                                         non-material damage through the errors and omissions of the
An action against the Commission of the European Communi-                Commission’s staff.
ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
European Communities on 2 April 1999 by Girish Ojha,
residing at Bierbeek (Belgium), represented by Antonietta
Ottati and Marc Dallemagne, both of the Brussels Bar.
The applicant claims that the Court should:                              Action brought on 1 April 1999 by Sonia Marion Elder
                                                                         and Robert Dale Elder against the Commission of the
                                                                                              European Communities
— annul the express decision of the Commission rejecting
    the applicant’s complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff                                     (Case T-78/99)
    Regulations;
                                                                                                  (1999/C 174/23)
— order the Commission to pay the applicant damages of
    BFR 1 552 339 for material damage and BFR 300 000 for
    non-material damage;                                                                    (Language of the case: English)
— order the Commission to pay the costs.                                 An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
                                                                         ties was brought before the Court of First Instance of the
                                                                         European Communities on 1 April 1999 by Sonia Marion
                                                                         Elder and Robert Dale Elder, represented by Scott Crosby of
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                         Kemmier Rapp Böhlke & Crosby, 9, Rond-Point, Brussels.
The applicant was posted to the Commission delegation in                 The applicant claims that the Court should.
Dacca (Bangladesh) until 31 December 1992. He imported a
Mercedes motor car, purchased free of VAT on 17 December                 (i) annul the refusal of the Commission to grant the appli-
1991, to Bangladesh from Belgium. On 5 January 1993, he                       cation for review of 6 January 1999 addressed to the
resumed his duties with the Commission in Brussels.                           Secretary General of the Commission constituted by its
                                                                              failure to reply in any form by the last hour of 8 February
                                                                              1999, or in the alternative by its failure to define its
According to the applicant, the relevant department of the                    position before the last hour of 13 or 14 February 1999;
Commission stated on tax forms on 23 December 1992 and
15 January 1993 that the applicant satisfied the conditions for          (ii) order the defendant to pay the applicants’ costs pursuant
customs exemption, erroneously indicating 1 November 1992                     to Article 87 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First
as the date on which he assumed his duties.                                   Instance.