Supreme Court declines to annul impeachment proceedings against twelve High court judges indicted in bribery expose

The Supreme Court has declined to annul the ongoing impeachment proceedings against some twelve High Court judges indicted in the bribery expose by Anas Aremeyaw Anas. 

The court in an unanimous decision said nothing can stop the proceedings once the petition has been handed over to the Chief Justice by the President. 

The court said it is impossible to truncate the process for any reason and also held that any attempt to that effect will amount to an absurdity and subversive of  the process. 

The court was also of the view that the Committee set by the Chief Justice to investigate the bribery allegation against the twelve superior court justices will not rely on what has been divulged or put into the public domain but what is contained in the petition submitted to the President by Tiger Eye Pi. 

The ruling is in respect of a writ filed by one of the Judges implicated in the expose,  Justice Paul Utter Dery who was praying the court to annul the impeachment proceedings over claims that the said video, which is the exhibit, has been put into the public domain by virtue of its premiere at the Accra International Conference Center. 

This he claims violates the  right to a fair hearing. 

The court however upheld Justice Dery’s claim that his right to a fair hearing has been breached. 

The court stated that, clearly, there has been an unconstitutional disclosure of the suit when Tiger Eye Pi went ahead to show the video.

The court held that the public has the right to know, but this certainly should have been after the Committee had closed its case and submitted its report.

The court also declined to put a perpetual injunction on any further publication of the said video stating that this will stifle free speech as guaranteed by the constitution and also constitute a judicial censorship.


GBC