Several hearings cancelled despite prosecutors

Criminal Court has cancelled several hearings scheduled for today, despite the return of public prosecutors to court following a week-long hiatus, as the prosecutors who attended the hearings were not assigned to the proper case.

Explaining the legality of the issue, an official from the Prosecutor General's Office said; “A Prosecutor General has the power to decide the lawyers to advocate on behalf of the State in criminal proceedings. In the absence of a PG, a Deputy Prosecutor General (has the legal prerogative). The PG Office lawyers who attend Criminal Court hearings today were not the predetermined lawyers. So the hearings had to be cancelled.”

Public prosecutors stopped attending hearings from 5 May, stating that they do no have the legal grounds to advocate in the absence of a Prosecutor General or his deputy, after Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem resigned on the same day.

Although the majority of sections refused to continue proceedings in the absence of the fixed prosecutor today, the Chief Judge’s section at the Criminal Court allowed to hear some cases.

An official from Juvenile Court said a responsible prosecutor must be indicated when a case is filed with the courts and that the prosecutor cannot be replaced without the proper authority.

“There is no authority to replace the lawyers that have already been appointed. Therefore, the hearing will be cancelled, if anyone other than the appointed lawyer attends court,” said the official from the Juvenile Court.