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Gurm v. Singh5/13/2002
This action arises out of a convenience market arson. Plaintiff and respondent Devinder Singh Gurm, one of the owners of the market, sued Jaswant Singh, Darshan Singh and Mirmal Sehmbey for unjust enrichment, claiming he was deprived of his fair share of the fire insurance proceeds.
Jaswant Singh appeals judgment entered against him following a bench trial in which the court found him unjustly enriched in the sum of $49,000. This was the amount of fire insurance funds disbursed to him in an underlying interpleader action, in which the court entered default against Devinder and then set aside the default and default judgment, but not until after disbursement of the insurance proceeds. The trial court in the instant case found that Devinder was entitled to the entire amount of insurance proceeds paid to Jaswant in the interpleader action ($49,000), plus prejudgment interest accruing from the date of the default judgment.
Jaswant contends the trial court erred in excluding evidence of his negotiations with Devinder in which they discussed Devinder buying out Jaswant's interest in their market business partnership. Regardless of whether there was such error, it was harmless since the trial court found Jaswant sold his entire interest in the partnership to third parties before the fire occurred. Jaswant therefore had no right to any of the insurance proceeds and thus evidence establishing the amount of his previous interest in the partnership was irrelevant.
Jaswant further contends the trial court erred in awarding prejudgment interest because the amount of the judgment was not a liquidated amount. We reject this contention as well and affirm the judgment.
1. Facts and Procedural Background
In 1991, Devinder and Jaswant orally agreed to form a partnership for the purpose of jointly operating an abandoned Circle K market, which they renamed K&G;Market. It was agreed they would each have a 50 percent interest in the business and would contribute equally to the expense and time spent operating the business.
Devinder quit his job at Circle K and he and his family began operating K&G;Market in 1992. Devinder contributed approximately $40,000 in capital. Jaswant contributed approximately $9,000, continued his job at Circle K, and devoted little time to the operation of K&G;Market. Devinder therefore claimed Jaswant was not entitled to a 50 percent share of the business.
In July or August of 1993, Devinder and Jaswant discussed the possibility of Devinder buying out Jaswant's partnership interest. The buy-out negotiations were unsuccessful. After the buy-out negotiations ended, Jaswant sold his partnership interest to Darshan and Sehmbey for $40,000. They paid Jaswant $30,000.
On September 16, 1993, Darshan and Sehmbey told Devinder they had purchased Jaswant's 50 percent interest in the business. Devinder told them Jaswant's interest was only 10 percent. Later that evening, at 2:00 a.m., an unidentified person fire-bombed the market. The fire destroyed the market and all the partnership assets.
Reliance Insurance Company of Illinois (Reliance) provided fire insurance coverage for the market. Devinder and Jaswant agreed to Reliance paying $97,999.50 for the loss. Before disbursement of the insurance proceeds, on January 31, 1995, Darshan and Sehmbey sued Devinder, Jaswant, and Reliance for recovery of a portion of the insurance proceeds. Darshan and Sehmbey also sought an injunction preventing Devinder and Jaswant from receiving any of the insurance proceeds from Reliance until the matter was resolved by the court. Reliance filed an interpleader action and deposited the insurance proc
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