The Supreme Court has dismissed the case in which two judges, Justice Paul Uuter Dery and Justice Gilbert Ayisi Addo, implicated in the judicial bribery scandal are challenging the Judicial Council for withholding their full salaries.
The justices, who did not assign any reasons for the unanimous decision, indicated they will give reasons for their judgment in seven days.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pFDvb09i9IVI6fnZZQF6Rkrx3zUUgCrP”]Justice Dery and Justice Ayisi Addo had sued the Judicial Council, the Chief Justice and four other institutions for serving them notices to slash their salaries by half and also suspend payment of their allowances with the exception of rent allowances.
The two had described the decision of the Judicial Council as unconstitutional.
Background
The plaintiffs are part of the 12 High Court judges captured by an investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, in audio and video recordings which allegedly showed them collecting bribes from litigants to pervert the course of justice.
A few days after the Committee’s exercise, Justices Paul Uuter Dery and Gibert Ayisi Addo, who are still under investigation, received a letter from the Judicial Council, stating that they would receive half of their salaries.
The two judges were, therefore, seeking a declaration that the decision of the Judicial Council in December 2015, which were contained in letters dated January 8 to 11, 2016 purporting to suspend payments to the plaintiffs of all their allowances except rent was inconsistent in law.
They claim the move was also in contravention of Article 127 (5) of the 1992 Constitution and therefore unconstitutional, null and void.
The plaintiffs were further praying the court for an order to nullify the decision of the council.
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By: Fred Djabanor/citifmonline.com/Ghana