Court of Appeal for Ontario

DATE: 2026-03-26 DOCKET: COA-24-CV-1369

Roberts, Miller and Monahan JJ.A.

BETWEEN

Satnam Lalli and Jaswinder Kaur Lalli Plaintiffs (Appellants)

and

Sukhvinder Lalli and Samardeep Lalli Defendants (Respondents)

Pheroze Jeejeebhoy and Zenobia Romanin, for the appellants

Marryam Singh, Siyamson Pathmanathan and Tahmina Taraky, for the respondents

Heard: November 13, 2025

On appeal from the judgment of Justice Thomas A. Bielby of the Superior Court of Justice, dated November 18, 2024, with reasons at 2024 ONSC 6416.

COSTS: REASONS FOR DECISION

[1] The appellants had mixed success at trial. Their claim for an interest in two investment properties was successful, but their claim for an equitable interest in a residential property was dismissed. Accordingly, the trial judge awarded no costs at trial.

[2] The appeal was allowed, in that the appellants were awarded a 50% interest in the residential property. An accounting remains necessary to determine the parties' relative financial contributions to the carrying costs of the property beyond the provision of the initial downpayment. The appellants had sought an order from this court entitling them to 50% of the equity, but we declined to make that order on the record before us, and we remitted that issue to an accounting before the Superior Court of Justice. The appellants were awarded costs of the appeal in the amount of $25,000, and we invited written submissions on the trial costs below.

[3] The respondents requested that we postpone that determination pending their motion for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. We are not inclined to do so and, having reviewed the written materials filed, order that the appellants are entitled to costs of trial in the amount of $70,000 all inclusive, being costs awarded on a partial indemnity basis. The appellants had sought approximately $155,000 in costs, on the basis that the result beat an offer to settle they had provided. We do not agree that the result beat their offer. The appellants were not awarded 50% of the equity of the residential property, which they sought, but 50% ownership. The value of the equity to which they will be entitled remains to be determined on the subsequent accounting.

DISPOSITION

[4] The appellants are awarded trial costs on a partial indemnity basis in the amount of $70,000, all inclusive.

"L.B. Roberts J.A."

"B.W. Miller J.A."

"P.J. Monahan J.A."