Supreme Court to decide on lotto case July 22

Monday, June 29, 2009 (Page 53)

THE Supreme Court will on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 decide whether or not the Accra Fast Track High Court exceeded its authority in allowing the Ghana Lotto Operators Association (GLOA) and six others to operate private lotto in the country.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice William Atuguba, fixed the date after counsel for the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Mr Kizito Beyuo, and counsel for GLOA, Mr Aurelius Awuku, had argued their cases.
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.
According to the NLA, the lower court did not have the jurisdiction to authorise GLOA and the six others to continue with their private lotto operations pending the determination of an appeal against an earlier ruling that had outlawed private lotto, but the respondents described the NLA’s application as “frivolous, misconceived and a complete abuse of the supervisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court”.
On April 1, 2009, the Accra Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Edward Amoako Asante, gave the nod to private lotto operators to function until the Court of Appeal determined otherwise.
In staying its earlier decision that outlawed private lotto in the country, the court stated that GLOA and the six others had raised issues that needed to be heard by the Court of Appeal on their merit.
It, accordingly, restrained the NLA from interfering with the property rights of the applicants, adding that the court agreed with applicants’ assertion that there were issues to be looked into and, therefore, it was only fair to maintain the status quo of the applicants.
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.
Arguing on behalf of the NLA, Mr Beyuo said the Fast Track Court exceeded its jurisdiction when it gave the respondents the mandate to operate illegally
He said with the passage of the Lotto Act (NLA) Act 2006, Act 722, it was illegal to operate any form of private lotto and for that matter the trial judge erred when he sanctioned private lotto operations in the country.
However, counsel for GLOA, Mr Awuku, opposed the application and stated that the court did not act in excess of its jurisdiction.
He said the court had the power to grant or refuse an application for injunction.
Counsel also stated that assuming there was an error on the part of the trial judge, the applicants should have gone on appeal and not to the Supreme Court.
He also pointed out that his clients had applied for licence to operate but the NLA had not issued them the licences due to the court battle between them.