3 Judges file case to dismiss ‘fraudulent’ Tiger Eye PI petition

Three of the High Court judges cited in the judicial corruption scandal have filed a writ at the Supreme Court on 17 February 2016 to dismiss petitions by Tiger Eye PI for their impeachment.

Tiger Eye PI, the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, and the Attorney General have all been cited as first, second and third defendants, respectively in the lawsuit.

Justices Paul Uuter Dery, Gilbert Ayisi Addo, and Mustapha Habib Logoh argue that Tiger Eye PI is not a registered legal entity in Ghana and has no authority to petition the president for their removal from office.

According to the writ, the plaintiffs pointed out that “the 1st Defendant’s ‘petitions’ to the President of Ghana for their removal from office as Justices of the Superior Court are inconsistent with, and, in contravention of Article 146(3) of the 1992 Constitution, as the 1st Defendant does not exist in fact and in law as a “petitioner” to have submitted the said petitions”.

They also indicated that TIGER EYE PI does not have the legal capacity “to submit ‘the petitions’ to the President for their removal from office”.

According to the embattled justices, the actions of Tiger EYE PI constitute fraud and they feel it was against the laws of the land for the President of Ghana and the Chief Justice to dismiss high court judges based on information by a fraudulent entity.

They are, therefore, seeking “for the enforcement of Article 146(3) of the 1992 Constitution in the light of the lack of capacity of the 1st Defendant as the latter does not exist in fact and in law and as such, not an identifiable “petitioner” armed with the purported “petitions”.

The writ indicated that a search at the Registrar General’s Department and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) did not present any results indicating that Tiger Eye PI exists.

The search results rather showed a company by name Tiger Eye PI Media Limited, which is registered under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179) with Anas Aremeyaw Anas and Pamella Abbey as its current directors.

However, “the physical file of Tiger Eye PI Media Limited, which would provide details of any filings made subsequent to the incorporation of the company on 7 April, 2009 is yet to be located”.

The plaintiffs were part of 34 judges caught on camera allegedly taking bribe to warp justice. The Chief Justice, on the orders of the President, has started investigations and removal procedures against the three and other high court judges, who were among the 34.

Already 22 judges have been removed from the judiciary, as a result of the two-year investigative piece done by undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his Tiger Eye PI team.