Supreme Court strikes out Petitioner’s stay of proceedings request
The Supreme Court has struck out, “as withdrawn”, a stay of proceedings filed by lawyers of the Petitioner in the 2020 Election Petition case.
The Court also struck out abridgment of time filed by the Electoral Commission to hear the dismissed application for interrogatories.
At the hearing on Thursday, Tsatsu Tsikata, Counsel for the Petitioner, and Mr Justine Amenuvor, Counsel for the EC, prayed the Court to withdraw their respective applications.
Meanwhile, the Court has heard the motion of Mr Tsikata, seeking leave to file supplements to the statement of case of the 2020 Election Petition and replace or amend paragraph 28 of the statement of case.
The Court, is expected to rule on the motion for leave to file supplements in the statement of case and amendment of paragraph 28 in the statement of case.
Source: GNA
Supreme Court throws out Petitioner’s motion for leave for additional grounds for review
The Supreme Court, has thrown out a motion for leave to file additional grounds for “review” in the review application of interrogatories by the Petitioner in the 2020 Election Petition.
The Court also dismissed the motion for leave to file supplements by amending paragraph 28 in the original statement of case.
The Court held that the application was not sanctioned by any provisions in CI 60 from rule 54 to 60 of the Supreme Court rule 16 of 1996.
According to the Court, in law and by certain practice of the Court, it should be noted that reviews and appeals were conceptually different and the rules governing the application of either of them were distinct and that, the Court had in several cases exhibited remarkable consistency.
In matters involving the liberty of an individual, it said, “the Court has always adopted a more liberal approach in the modern day administration of justice, indeed the application was not for leave to file an amendment on the grounds of a review as in this application.”
To assay to the application, the Court held that “it would be tender mount to the scope of the jurisdiction of the review, which jurisdiction is not provided by the rules of the court.”
The Supreme Court further rules that “We find out that all inherent jurisdiction cannot be invoked under the circumstances of the case with the rules of court making clear provisions in the exercise of their jurisdiction in this matter.
“We, accordingly proceed to dismiss the application.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has asked the Petitioner in the Election 2020 Petition case to get ready to put their witnesses in the box to testify.
The Petitioner indicated that Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, General Secretary of the NDC and Dr Michael Kpassa-Whyte, a member of the Party who was in the Electoral Commission’s “strongroom”, would testify in the box.
The Court has adjourned the matter to Friday January 29, for hearing.
Mr Mahama’s petition is asking the Supreme Court to order the Electoral Commission to conduct a second Presidential Election for the New Patriotic Party’s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and himself, claiming that none of the 12 candidates in the December 2020 race won more than 50 percent of the valid ballots cast to win.
The EC, therefore, should not have declared Candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo victorious, on December 9, it contended.
Source: GNA