Rawal insists notice to retire her was wrong

Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal Thursday maintained that her employer erred by giving her a retirement notice and advertising her job when a case challenging the retirement age for judges was still in court.

Justice Rawal, who was replying to submissions by the Judicial Service Commission in a suit challenging her retirement, said she went to court because the law had been broken and her rights violated.

Her lawyer, Mr Kioko Kilukumi, cited a letter by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga stating that the retirement age matter should wait until cases on whether judges who served under the old Constitution should retire at 74 are determined.

The CJ’s letter, according to Judge Rawal, was clear that the commission would be bound by the decision of the court.

“I am in court because my rights have been violated, but I am also here as a matter of public interest because there are about 40 judges whose fate will depend on the outcome of this petition,” she said.

The judges will Friday give a date when judgments in all the cases challenging the retirement age will be made.