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COURT STOPS PARLY PROBE INTO MASTER’S OFFICE

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MBABANE – Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala and the JSC have obtained an order stopping the Parliament Select Committee investigating alleged gross maladministration, abuse of power and embezzlement of estate monies at the Master of the High Court Office.

The seven-member Parliament Select Committee was expected to have its sitting on Friday and the master of the High Court was due to appear before it. The interim order interdicting the committee from investigating the office of the master of the High Court comes after the chief justice (CJ) and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Friday moved an urgent application against the clerk of Parliament, Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Chairperson of the Parliament Select Committee, Sandla Fakudze.

Restrained

Judge Ticheme Dlamini, who heard the application, interdicted and restrained the Parliament Select Committee from investigating and/or probing the office of the master of the High Court with regard to its administrative and financial functions. According to the CJ and the JSC, Parliament has no power to enquire into the administrative and financial operations of the master of the High Court Office. “The Office of the Master of the High Court, under the Judiciary, in its administrative and financial administration, is independent from any organ of the kingdom, but only subject to the Constitution,” argued the CJ and the JSC. The veracity of these allegations is still to be tested in court and the respondents are yet to file their answering papers.

The first applicant in the matter is the CJ while the second applicant is the JSC. In the application, the applicants (chief justice and the JSC) submitted that the Judiciary was one of the three arms of government which, in terms of the Constitution, in both its judicial and administrative functions, was independent and only subject to the Constitution. It was further their submission that the Office of the master of the High Court was one of the offices under the Judiciary of Eswatini. “No organ of the Kingdom has any power to enquire into and/or interfere in the affairs of the Judiciary,” contended applicants. In her founding affidavit, JSC Secretary Lungile Msimango pointed out that the complaint by Parliament, according to what the Office of the Master was served with, was alleged maladministration, abuse of power and embezzlement of estate funds. She averred that it would appear that the complaints were against the action of the master of the High Court in the exercise of judicial administration and financial functions in respect of estate funds.

 

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