Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal through his lawyer Kioko Kilukumi deepened the crisis in the Country’s Highest Court with a morning challenge to Chief Justice Willy Mutunga’s earlier decision to have her case heard on June 24TH and not June 2 as Chief Justice Willy Mutunga had earlier directed.
Dr. Mutunga, who is the President of the Supreme Court, had said in his morning pronouncement that he had decided to bring forward the hearing of the case because of the huge public interest the matter had generated in the past four days, but Rawal, through her lawyer Kioko Kilukumi, argued in a notice of preliminary objection that Dr Mutunga does not have any administrative powers he can cite to override a judicial decision.
The Judicial Service Commission has since mentioned that the decision by beleaguered Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal,to challenge her retirement and the subsequent conservatory orders issued to her,have unnecessarily thrown the judiciary into a full-blown constitutional crisis.
Ahmed said with Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga set to retire in two weeks’ time, the orders issued by Justice Ndung’u effectively places Justice Rawal the acting Chief Justice according to section 5(4) of the Judicial Service Act, a situation that will automatically put the judiciary at the crossroads, Rawal turned 70 in January this year, and it will be interesting in acting capacity as Chief Justice, to see how she will handle a case challenging her retirement age, devoid of the glaring conflict of interest.
Suspended Judge Philip Tunoi has on the other hand clocked 72, and if the decision by the Appellate Court that Judges ought to retire at 70 under new constitution was left to prevail, then the two would have left office with immediate effect.