Supreme Court judges sue paper over story
What you need to know:
- The judges said the article could be understood to refer to them collectively or individually as it did not make it clear which judicial officer it was referring to.
- The seven judges said the media house was unfair as it did not check the veracity of the allegations with any of them.
- They are aggrieved that they were portrayed as individuals of low moral character, have no sense of obligation to their professional calling and do not deserve the title “Honourable”.
Seven judges of the Supreme Court have filed a case against a media house they claim portrayed them as corrupt judicial officers.
Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal, Justice Jackton Ojwang, Justice Philip Tunoi, Justice Mohamed Ibrahim, Justice Smoking Wanjala and Justice Njoki Ndungu said an article published in the Star newspaper, a publication of Radio Africa Ltd, implied they receive bribes to make certain key decisions.
The judges said the article could be understood to refer to them collectively or individually as it did not make it clear which judicial officer it was referring to.
“The article left it open to the public to conclude that it referred to any one of the seven judges of the court, thus, by inescapable innuendo, defaming each one of us. None was excluded from the scope of the publisher’s blanket accusations,” said the judges in their court papers.
The seven judges said the media house was unfair as it did not check the veracity of the allegations with any of them.
The judicial officers said the media house also failed to carry an apology when requested to do so.
“The article spawned a follow-up in the online media, which also carried the stated accusations,” said the judges.
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They are aggrieved that they were portrayed as individuals of low moral character, have no sense of obligation to their professional calling and do not deserve the title “Honourable”.
Following the publication of the article, Dr Mutunga requested Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko to quickly carry out investigations into alleged corruption by Supreme Court judges.
The media house is expected to respond to the case filed by the judges.
