By Aminata Phidelia Allie
The case before Justice Babatunde Edwards of the Appeals Court between AfriMedia and the Independent Media Commission risks being thrown out again after it suffered the same fate at the High Court on procedural grounds.
State counsel acting on behalf of the IMC, Lahai Momoh Farmah raised a preliminary objection to the notice of appeal, pointing out that “the manner in which the matter came before the court is irregular and the notice of appeal fatally defective and cannot sustain subsequent proceedings of the matter”.
He said the master and registrar had failed to summon the parties involved in the case to settle records, adding that that was a very important element of appeal and in accordance with the Appeals Court rules.
Farmah noted that there were no rules regulating appeals entering the appellate jurisdiction, but clarified that in the absence of those rules, the mandate was that existing rules should be followed.
Quoting Section 22 of the Independent Media Commission’s Act of 2000, Farmah said the plaintiff had failed to clearly indicate that the matter should be heard and determined by the court.
“I therefore urge this court to set the application and all subsequent proceedings aside”, he submitted.
Counsel for AfriMedia responded by saying that the defendant had not made reference to any authority or statute to prove the appeal was improper before the court, noting that the notice of motion was “one such certain ordered document”.
Yada Williams said that the matter was before the court in both its original and appellate jurisdictions as it “has not been in any other court before now”. He added that: “As far as this matter is concerned this is a court of first instance”.
He went on to submit that they had fully complied with the provisions of Section 22 of the IMC Act and furthered that Sections 53 and 55 of the Courts Act had no bearing on the issues challenged in the matter.
He said the submission of the defendant lacked merit and challenged them to show the authority upon which his objection was based.
A ruling will be delivered on Friday, May 31.
