The Supreme Court has adjourned indefinitely an application seeking to halt the process that could lead to the removal of the Chief Justice.
The application, filed by the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, is seeking an injunction to stop the entire impeachment process until the determination of his writ challenging the constitutionality of the proceedings.
When the case was called today, a five-member panel of the apex court, presided over by Justice Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, announced that it had to adjourn the matter due to a request from the Office of the Attorney-General.
Justice Mensa-Bonsu explained that the Attorney-General had written to the Chief Justice, requesting an adjournment of all cases involving the Attorney-General’s outfit for the week, owing to a conference of State Attorneys currently ongoing in Accra.
Although the panel was already aware of the situation, a State Attorney, Reginald Odoi, appeared in court to further convey the request from the Attorney-General.
Mr Odoi stated that he had been instructed by the Attorney-General to inform the court in person out of respect for the highest court of the land.
However, counsel for the applicant, Godfred Yeboah Dame, a former Attorney-General, questioned why the Attorney-General or his deputy would miss what he described as “an important constitutional case” due to a conference of state attorneys.
“It is quite odd that a conference of state attorneys should lead to the adjournment of such an important case,” he said.
He urged the court to adjourn the matter to the earliest possible date, preferably Monday. However, the court said it had no power to set a new date, as the request from the Attorney-General was directed to the Chief Justice.
“The case will go back to the Chief Justice for her to fix a new date since it was a request to her office. Case is therefore adjourned sine die,” Justice Mensa-Bonsu ruled.