Civil Court quashes midnight order in Lagoons election dispute

The Civil Court has cancelled the midnight interim order issued in the Lagoons Sports Club election dispute, after finding that the order had been granted in the absence of Lagoons and in contradiction to an already enforced judgment.

The midnight order, issued at 12:15 am on August 17, instructed the Lagoons Steering Committee to immediately halt all election-related work. It also directed the Bank of Maldives (BML) to stop transactions in the club’s name and freeze accounts registered to Lagoons, and ordered police to enforce the restrictions.

The order was issued by Civil Court Judge Abdulla Ihusaan on a complaint filed by the former president and members of the previous executive committee, without the involvement of the Commissioner of Sports. Curiously enough, Judge Ihusaan was suspended later the same day in connection with an alleged sexual assault case.

Lagoons Sports Club subsequently requested a review of the interim order, after which the Civil Court quashed it.

In its decision, the court noted that elections for Lagoons Sports Club were held on August 16 with the knowledge of the Commissioner of Sports, and a new executive committee had already been elected and registered before the interim order was issued on August 17. The presiding judge, Ali Abdullah, stated that the midnight order had been issued in a situation where the previous judgment had already been enforced, making the order invalid.