Supreme Court Quashes Restoration of Indian Businessman’s Permits

The Supreme Court has quashed the ruling by an Accra High Court ordering the restoration of the residence and work permits of embattled Indian businessman, Ashok Kumar Sivaram.

According to the Justices of the Supreme Court, the High Court judge erred in granting the order.

They also indicated that the judge exceeded her jurisdiction.

This follows a suit filed by the state seeking to overturn the orders of the High Court which directed the Comptroller of the Ghana Immigration Service to restore the Indian businessman’s residence and work permits.

The Justices also added that the court could not give the Immigration Service such an order in this situation given that the businessman had not gone through the administrative process of getting the revocation of his permits addressed.

Background

The GIS, following an order by the Interior Ministry in June 2017, deported Mr. Sivaram on the premise that he had forged his marriage certificate in an application for citizenship, which led his lawyer to contest his deportation by seeking judicial review.

The High Court, which first heard the case, upheld the businessman’s application and quashed his deportation order on July 31 on the grounds that the Interior Minister exceeded his jurisdiction.

The applicant, after the failure of the GIS to comply with the first order, sought an order from the court in September the same year to compel them to comply with the first order.

The High Court once again ordered the GIS to restore the Residence and Work Permit of Mr. Sivaram, the Indian businessman within seven days and also ordered the GIS’s assigns, agents and servants to desist from harassing him until his application before the Service was duly processed.

The GIS, represented by the Attorney General’s office, after the second case, filed a stay of proceedings at the High Court which was subsequently dismissed.

They went ahead to appeal the ruling in the Court of Appeal which was also dismissed leading to today [Thursday]’s case at the Supreme Court.

Source: Citifmonline