Batatawala writes court on ACB non-compliance with order
Businessperson Abdul Karim Batatawala has written Blantyre Magistrate’s Court notifying it about State’s failure to comply with a court’s order.
Senior resident magistrate Martin Chipofya in December last year ordered the State to serve the defense with disclosures by February 10 2022.
A certificate of non-compliance issued by Batatawala’s lead lawyer Alexius Nampota delivered to Blantyre Magistrate Court on February 15 indicates that the Anti-Corruption (ACB) had not served the defence with the disclosures as directed by the court.
In an interview on Wednesday, Nampota said the issuance of certificate of non-compliance means that the State has not complied with the court order and that the State is not ready for trial.
He said if the State had served the defence with disclosures by February 10 2022, it would have given the accused persons enough time to read and get ready for trial scheduled next Monday.
Nampota said: “It means that the trial will not proceed on the 28th February. It further means that the State is not ready with the trial.
“The implication is that it will be open to the court to consider discharging the accused persons until the State is ready to proceed with the trial.”
But in a separate interview, one of the State lawyers handling the matter Imran Saidi, who is also ACB chief legal and prosecutions officer, insisted that the case will proceed on February 28 2022.
“We are preparing those particular disclosures and we will file them on the defence timely. So, on 28th [February] we are going to court because by then we will have filed those disclosures and will be guided and given proper direction on how the trial is going to be conducted.”
When contacted, High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal registrar Gladys Gondwe said the trail will start on February 28 as earlier scheduled.
Batatawala and three co-accused persons are answering charges bordering on corruption.
The other three are former Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services chief immigration officer Elvis Thodi, the department’s commissioner responsible for operations Fletcher Nyirenda and deputy director Limbani Chawinga.
The four are answering the first count of conspiracy to defraud by inflating the market price of 500 lockers procured by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services from Africa Commercial Agency under contract number IM/01/85 dated March 22 2010 valued at K2 950 560 per unit price totalling K1 475 280 000.
Batatawala is also answering the second count of money laundering while Thodi, Nyirenda and Chawinga are answering the third, fourth and fifth counts of abuse of office, neglecting official duty and aiding money laundering, respectively.
Thodi is also answering the sixth count of giving false information in a public office.
When the court convened on January 20 for plea taking, where the four pleaded not guilty to all counts, Chipofya directed the State to serve the defence with disclosures by February 10 and that the defence should study the disclosures within 14 days before the start of the trial.
ACB arrested the four in December last year in relation to suspected corrupt practices in the procurement contracts for uniforms and other accessories at the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services between 2009 and 2012.
At the time the alleged crime was committed, Nyirenda was head of research and planning while Chawinga was his deputy.
