Member of Parliament for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, has failed once again to put his criminal trial on hold.
The High Court has ruled that nothing stops it from proceeding with the case despite multiple legal processes filed at the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
The legislator is standing trial for allegedly committing offences including perjury and forgery.
The court had earlier indicated it will hold its hearing on a day-to-day basis. Mr Quayson has since been pushing to set this aside causing him to file legal processes at the Court of Appeal.
He also filed another action at the Supreme Court making a similar request, adding that the Attorney General has failed to furnish him with the full complement of evidence to be used against him.
“We have filed an application for a stay of proceedings that has been set for Wednesday the 19th of July at the Court of Appeal. We have also filed in the Supreme Court, a motion invoking the supervisory jurisdiction for an order directed at this court to quash the decision made on the 16th of July and another to prohibit the court from proceeding with the case,” lead counsel for the MP Tsatsu Tsikata earlier told the court.
Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame disagreed with this view and pointed out that the court should proceed since no order has been issued by either the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court.
“Respectfully, the prayer before you is without any basis. And I am not surprised he has not referred you to any rule of law. It is an attempt to deny the court the right to hear the case. It is an attempt to prevent the continuation of the trial and I pray the court to disregard the request,” he stated.
The court presided over by Justice Mary Yanzuh ruled that in the absence of any court order halting proceedings, the court will proceed with the case.
Source: Joseph Ackah-Blay