APALOO J.S.C.: On 3 March 1965 I consolidated and heard together two separate actions which were brought first by Mr. Panagiotopoulos against the Plastico Ltd. of Tema and secondly, an action which was instituted by the latter company against Panagiotopoulos. The first action which was serially numbered as suit No. 488/64, claimed an amount of money alleged to be due on a balance of account which was amended to include a claim for specific performance of an implied contract; the second action serially numbered 495/64 sought damages for defamation. For the sake of convenience, I shall refer to Mr. Panagiotopoulos throughout this judgment as the plaintiff and the Plastico Ltd. as the company.
Serious and somewhat difficult contentions of law were put forward by counsel but the facts themselves are substantially not in dispute. Before I deal with the purely legal aspects of the case, I must relate the facts briefly. The plaintiff, Mr. Panagiotopoulos, is the major shareholder in a company…