Acting CJ, Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie
The Supreme Court has by a 3:2 majority decision dismissed an application which it sought to order President John Mahama to revoke the suspension of Justice Gertrude Torkornoo as the Chief Justice.
The court did not give a full reason for its decision but indicated that having reviewed the processes filed before the court and having listened to counsel for the applicant and the Deputy Attorney General, the application seeking further action being taken by the President as well as the order reversing the warrant suspending the Chief Justice is refused.
The majority made up of Acting Chief Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie (president), Justice Omoro Tanko Amadu and Yonny Kulendi with Justices Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu and Ernest Gaewu dissenting, dismissed the application and said the full reasons for doing so would be available by May 21, 2025.
Earlier, the court in a unanimous decision overruled an objection raised by Godfred Yeboah Dame, counsel for Vincent Ekow Asafuah, challenging the decision by Justice Baffoe-Bonnie to add himself to the panel.
It was his argument that “to the extent that the determination of the matter will affect the status of both the Chief Justice and the Acting Chief Justice, it is my submission that the acting Chief Justice should not be part of the panel.”
He added that, “My objection is not to suggest that the Acting Chief Justice does not have the power to empanel, but justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. It does not augur well for the administration of justice and has tendency to lower public confidence if the proceedings are presided over by the Acting Chief Justice.”
But Deputy Attorney General, Dr. Srem-Sai and the court disagreed with him. The court, in its ruling, referred to Article 144(6) which states that the senior-most justice of the Supreme Court shall act in the absence of the Chief Justice.
Panel Reconstitution
Mr. Dame then objected to the reconstitution of the panel hearing the matter, referencing Article 157(3), and stated that the old panel had already started hearing the matter hence it could not have been reconstituted.
The court once again overruled him and held that the court had not started hearing the case, and once the case was adjourned sine die (indefinitely), the Acting Chief Justice could reconstitute the panel.
The new panel dropped Justices Samuel Asiedu, who is now on the committee to hear the petition against the suspended Chief Justice, Richard Adjei-Frimpong and Yaw Darko Asare and added Justice Baffoe-Bonnie, Amadu Tanko and Yonny Kulendi, all of whom voted to dismiss the motion to injunct the process.
Injunction
Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Tafo, Vincent Ekow Assafuah, had filed an application before the apex court asking it to issue an order blocking the operation of the warrant for suspension of the Chief Justice.
The MP earlier filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the processes to remove the Chief Justice and followed it up with an application for injunction seeking to restrain the President and the Council of State from concluding the processes of the first three petitions seeking the removal of Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo.
While that is pending, the President went ahead to suspend the Chief Justice on April 22, 2025, compelling the MP to file another application asking the apex court to reverse the President’s decision pending the determination of his case before it.
The application was seeking “An order restraining any step or action from being purportedly taken as part of the processes for the removal of the Chief Justice under Article 146 or in any manner until the hearing and final determination of the instant action.”
It is also seeking “An order suspending the operation of the warrant for suspension of the Chief Justice purportedly issued by the President under Article 146 or in any manner until the hearing and final determination of the instant action.”
BY Gibril Abdul Razak