The High Court on Thursday declined to determine an application by the Attorney-General to revoke a travel order previously granted to the first accused in the Buffer Stock case after finding that the order had expired before the application could be heard.
The application arose in the case of Republic v. Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba & Another, in which the State had asked the Court to revoke the travel permission previously granted to the first accused.
At the hearing, the presiding judge observed that the travel order specifically authorised the first accused to travel outside the jurisdiction from 4 July to 12 July 2026. The Court noted that although the prosecution filed its application on 8 July 2026, while the order was still in force, the travel period had elapsed by the time the motion came up for hearing.
The Judge therefore held that there was no longer a subsisting order capable of being revoked.
Deputy Attorney-General Dr Justice Srem-Sai conceded that the application had become overtaken by events and applied for leave to withdraw it, explaining that the travel order had ceased to have legal effect after 12 July 2026.
The Court accordingly permitted the withdrawal of the motion.
As matters stand, there is no subsisting court order authorising the first accused to travel outside Ghana
The case has been adjourned to Monday, 20 July 2026, when the Court is expected to hear an application by counsel for the first accused seeking to strike out the charge sheet in the substantive criminal proceedings.
If the application succeeds, the immediate effect would be the termination of the current criminal proceedings based on the existing charge sheet. However, unless the Court finds a fundamental legal defect that permanently bars the prosecution, striking out the charge sheet would not amount to an acquittal of the accused. The Attorney-General may, depending on the Court’s reasons for the ruling, be entitled to correct any defects identified and commence fresh proceedings by filing a new charge sheet.
