Valabhji’s legal fees not to be paid from ACCS-administered accounts |11 February 2023
The Valabhji couple ‒ Laura and Mukesh ‒ reappeared before the Supreme Court yesterday morning in relation to both the corruption, and firearms and ammunition cases.
Chief Justice Rony Govinden delivered his ruling regarding the couple’s access to funds to pay off their legal fees, from accounts under the administration of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Seychelles (ACCS).
CJ Govinden ruled that the Valabhjis provided contradicting submissions as to whether the funds would be a loan or an advancement from the company, and that while court had on November 10, 2022 ruled that there are specific circumstances under section 172 of the Companies Ordinance when a company can provide loans, the circumstances of this case do not fall within the said section, nor do the articles of association of the company provide express authorisation regarding loans to directors.
Court further stated that any payment to shareholders would be limited to dividend payments, thereby concluding that the company is not authorised to make any payments to directors and shareholders which are not in accordance with the law.
The legal fees in question arise from an October invoice from London-based law firm, Zaiwalla & Co, at a sum of £542,000, approximately R8.6 million, for 50 percentof the proposed legal fees for three months’ work.
Court acknowledged that the date for the firearms and prevention of terrorism case must be set at the soonest, and granted the parties enough time to do so by the next mention date. This was in light of Mr Valabhji’s application for variation order regarding detention of funds, that with the view of the ruling relating to the payment of legal fees, the issue is fully addressed, and that the court needs to also balance interests and rights of other parties in the case, to be tried within reasonable time.
As for the corruption case, it is to proceed to trial as from April 13 as initially set.Counsel for the ACCS stated that there might be another obstacle for the trial to proceed during planned dates, namely, a Constitutional petition for which the ACCS is the respondent. However, court pointed out that it is not concerned with the petition and that any issues regarding proceedings can be brought before the Constitutional Court by the parties in those proceedings.
Before concluding, Mrs Valabhji informed court that her prison cell was broken into and certain documents related to the cases were vandalised while others were taken. The police have thus far failed to address the issue and have not responded to her report she claimed, meaning that certain documents still have not been recovered. In view of the seriousness of the allegations, court directed that a report from the police be provided to court.
Both Mr and Mrs Valabhji are to reappear in court on February 24, along with former Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) official Leslie Benoiton, as all three are accused in the firearms case. They remain in remand custody.
Laura Pillay