Supreme Court grants NPP’s request to amend petition

The Supreme Court today ruled on four different applications filed by petitioners and respondents in the case relating to petition challenging the results of the 2012 Presidential elections.

The Court granted the petitioners an application for leave to amend their petition within two days.

The Court also ordered that the new amendments will also be affected by the ruling on the application for the provision of further and better particulars.

The petitioners sought to amend the petition asking the Supreme Court to annul 4,670,504 valid votes cast during the elections 11,916 polling stations where alleged irregularities were recorded.

The petitioners had earlier stated that irregularities were recorded in at 4,709 polling stations.

Meanwhile the court also dismissed an application filed by the petitioners praying the court to direct the Electoral Commission to provide them with the collation and pink sheets.

The court in a unanimous decision dismissed the application by the NPP members describing it as “superfluous and unnecessary.”

The court also refused the application by the NDC to order the petitioners to include them in the provision of further and better particulars describing their arguments as “superfluous and remote to the rule of the court.”

The application for leave to serve interrogatories on petitioners brought on behalf of President John Mahama by his legal team was withdrawn and struck out by the court.

Lead counsel for the NPP Presidential candidate Gloria Akuffo spoke to Citi News after proceedings in court.

“The court held that the application had been brought by the petitioners prematurely and since copies of those documents had been given to agents of the petitioners who were deemed to have them and therefore the application was unnecessary. In that regard, the application was refused,” she said.

Madam Akuffo further mentioned, “The respondents will have 14days after the service of these documents to file any amended answers that they might be demanded to file.”

“The NDC’s application for further and better particulars was refused by the court on the grounds that the matters being sought were substantially covered by the ruling which was rendered in respect for further and better particulars on behalf of the first and second respondent,” she added.

On his part, a member of the NDC legal team Nana Ato Dadzie spoke to Citi News saying “The NPP wants 55% of President John Dramani Mahama’s votes annulled. The court allowed them as it is their claim and since they are building their story so they were given two days to amend their pleadings. The court by a unanimous vote disagreed with the NPP when they [NPP] asked the EC to hand over their pink sheets to them. The court rejected their request and stated that obviously the pink sheets they [NPP] have was the basis on which they claim that 4, 709.”