GLOA files for review at Supreme Court

Thursday, August 13, 2009 (Page 3)

THE Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) has filed an application at the Supreme Court for a review of its decision to quash a High Court order that empowered private lotto operators to function in the country.
According to the GLOA and six others, namely Obiri Asare and Sons Limited, Rambel Enterprise Limited, Agrop Association Limited, Dan Multipurpose Trading Enterprise Limited and From-Home Enterprises, they were most likely to suffer greater hardship where the National Lottery Authority (NLA) was given the free hand to take over their equipment when no terms had been agreed upon or adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court on July 22, 2009 quashed an order by the Accra Fast Track High Court which gave the nod to private lotto operators to operate in the country and maintained that the lower court exceeded its authority by allowing the applicants to operate private lotto in the country.
According to the applicants, they did not enter into any form of negotiations with the NLA on the surrender of their equipment.
“Where there are no terms, much more, terms determined through negotiations between the parties..., any order of this honourable court that allows the NLA to seize the property of the GLOA amounts to a fundamental or basic error on the part of this honourable court, which would occasion a miscarriage of justice,” the application for review pointed out.
According to the application, the ruling of the court amounted to allowing the NLA to carry out its threat against the GLOA.
It said the NLA had issued directives enjoining the applicants to surrender their equipment, adding that the effect of the quashing of the order of the High Court “is to allow the NLA the free hand to carry out the threat that accompany the directives. This is obviously not in keeping with the law and we urge the Supreme Court to review the order dated July 22, 2009”.
The application argued that the decision of the Supreme Court created a dangerous situation which would not serve the public good or be in the public interest, adding that Article 18 of the 1992 Constitution and Section 58 (4) of Act 722 frowned upon the taking of the property of the applicants without due process.
In its earlier ruling, the Supreme Court, presided over by Mr Justice William Atuguba, in a unanimous decision, said the lower court did not have the jurisdiction to authorise GLOA and the other applicants to continue with their private lotto operations pending the determination of an appeal against an earlier ruling that had outlawed private lotto.
The other members of the panel were Professor Justice S.K. Date-Bah, Mr Justice Julius Ansah, Mr Justice Annin Yeboah and Mr Justice P. Baffoe-Bonnie.
On April 1, 2009, the Accra Fast Track High Court gave the nod to private lotto operators to function until the Court of Appeal determined otherwise.
Not satisfied with the court’s decision, the NLA went to the Supreme Court to invoke its supervisory jurisdiction for an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the Fast Track High Court.