Third petition filed at PSC seeking removal of DPP Haji for abuse of office » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Nov 1-A third petition seeking the removal of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji from office has been filed at the Public Service Commission (PSC) by a Nairobi businessman.

The petitioner, Ahmed Noorani, who is a director of Jack and Jill supermarket accused the DPP of lacking impartiality and exercising preferential treatment in handling his case which, he said, amounts to abuse of office.

Two petitions are still pending at the PSC, one filed by the late Tob Cohen’s family and another by another businessman but Haji has already obtained court orders restraining the PSC from hearing them.

According to the latest petition filed by Noorani, Haji has declined to charge his former ally and business associate Rajendra Sanghani for refusing to pay him his money which has since accrued to Sh240 million.

The petitioner claims that Sanghani took a loan of Sh 167 million from him in 2015 which has over time accrued interest after the borrower defaulted payment.

In 2018, Sanghani entered into another agreement with Noorani to pay Sh1 million in interest due to the delay in payments.

Noorani lamented that even after they reached into a debt paying agreement by way of promissory notes and postdated cheques Sanghani went ahead and defaulted the payment.

When the postdated cheques matured, Noorani went to the bank to get his money only to be told by the bank that Sanghani had cancelled the cheques.

“That Mr Sanghani wilfully refused to honor his request and prematurely told the bank not to honour the cheques as and when presented,”the petition read.

The petitioner raised issues with the conduct of the DPP in handling the matter revealing that in 2018 he lodged the matter to the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) who discharged his duties to his satisfaction.

When the matter was forwarded to the DPP it hit a snag, as he claimed that the file charges before him did not warrant any criminal charge against businessman Sanghani and it was more of a civil matter.

“…..since the petitioner lodged the complaint no competent action has been taken by the DPP  and no directions given in regards to prosecution or preferring charges against the suspect Sanghani on criminal offence,” the petition read.

Unsatisfied by Haji’s move, the petitioners in April 2019 through his lawyer wrote to the DPP suggesting him to reopen the file in the interest of administration of Justice as envisaged in the Constitution of 2010.

For a second time, the DPP refused to charge Sanghani on a criminal case and instead directed him to pursue his quest for justice in a civil court.

“….the DPP wrote to the petitioner that there is no evidence on record to warrant prosecution of Mr Sanghani and the evidence on record does not disclose criminal elements that warrant prosecution….the petitioner should kindly pursue his interest in civil court,” the petition read.

The petioner through his lawyers Danstan Omari and Shadrack Wambui now wants the Public Service Commission to consider his petition seeking Haji removal  for negligently and recklessly discharging his mandate on the case.

“The DPP wilfully, recklessly, negligently and deliberately was in capacious and limited in the approach of discharging his mandate as the DPP limiting himself to only the offense of issuance of post-dated cheques,”the petition read.

Haji got major reprieve after the High Court stopped the Public Service Commission from considering two petitions seeking his removal.

On October 28, Justice James Makau barred PSC from acting on the two petitions filed by the late Tob Cohen’s sister and a city businessman.

“A conservatory order is hereby issued suspending PSC consideration of two petitions lodged for the removal of the DPP before the commission,” the order reads.

The commission has also been barred from taking any further action or steps in the proceedings pending a hearing of the case filed by Haji.