Kadhi court hearing of Shahid Pervez Butt cases rejected
What you need to know:
- Mr Justice Edward Muriithi ordered that the cases proceed for hearing before the High Court in Mombasa.
- Justice Muriithi noted that compelling all Muslims to subject themselves to the Kadhi court would be “contrary to all notions of choice”.
A son of gunned down Mombasa tycoon Shahid Pervez Butt and his mother have lost a bid to have the succession cases in the Sh5 billion estate moved to the Kadhi’s court.
Mr Justice Edward Muriithi ordered that the cases proceed for hearing before the High Court in Mombasa.
Justice Muriithi noted that compelling all Muslims to subject themselves to the Kadhi court would be “contrary to all notions of choice”.
Mr Haroon Shahid Butt and Ms Akhtar Butt claimed the High Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the cases since the businessman and other parties in the suit were all Muslims.
Ms Akhtar Butt said her husband, in 2009, married Ms Regine Butt who converted to Islam.
Lawyer Charles Agwara, for Mr Shahid and his mother, told the judge the petitioners should have filed the cases at the Kadhi court.
Ms Regine Butt and her mother opposed the application through lawyer George Miyare insisting that the Kadhi court was subordinate to the High Court.
According to one of the succession cases, Regine and her mother Roselinde Gudrun Ostertag have petitioned the court to grant them letters of administration ad colligenda bona defuncti (a person appointed by a court until a long-term administrator is found) for preservation of the estate.
Regine is also seeking Sh1.5 million each month from bank accounts, incomes and profits of Modern Coast Express Ltd and Vantage Road Transporters Ltd for upkeep.
