The children of a former judge yesterday filed a judicial application against the Director of Social Housing for allowing a family who simply moved into their father’s house without their permission to live there and pay rent.
In the writ, the brothers Gerald, Neville, Alfred and Winston Montanaro Gauci and their spouses, explained that in 1987 Carmel Caruana and his family broke into and went to live in a house in Rabat that belonged to their father, former judge Anthony Montanaro Gauci.
In the writ, which was filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, they explained that they immediately initiated judicial proceedings to remove Mr Caruana and his family as these were living in the house without their permission or any legal title.
However, they added, even though there were judicial proceedings against him, the government issued a requisition order in Mr Caruana’s favour in 1988, allowing him to live there.
The writ said that the government set a minimal rate of rent to be paid that does not reflect the property’s commercial value.
The Montanaro Gauci family also pointed out that the property is in a strategic area for development but this is unable to take place because Mr Caruana is still residing there.
The judicial application requested the court to order Mr Caruana to repay them in full the full rent according to the property’s commercial value from 1988 until the case is decided and to pay them the profit they would have made had the property been developed.
They also requested the court to hand over the deed of the property to their family or, in the worst case scenario, implement decent rent rates.
Dr Jose Herrera and Dr Veronique Dalli signed the writ.