As the news of a speculated civil suit by High Court judge, Simeon Mdeza, against Chizuma is yet to settle its dust, another civil suit has emerged in which Ashok Nair has dragged the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Director, Martha Chizuma, to court.
According to court summons that Shire Times has seen, Ashok Nair, who is billed as Zuneth sattar’s business associate and agent has sued Chizuma for defamation. Nair is demanding damages from Chizuma for allegedly putting his name in disrepute.
Nair’s close ally has told Shire Times that the defamation charge is emanating from a leaked phone call audio record in which Chizuma was alleging that the judge who handled Nair case received a bribe from him to decide the case in his favour.
Ashok was arrested alongside the former Minster of Lands, Kezzie Msukwa, over corruption allegations in some land transaction deals. According to ACB case, Msukwa is accused of receiving a Mercedes Benz car to influence fraudulent sale of land to Zuneth Sattar whose alleged agent in the transaction was Nair.
Both Msukwa and Nair were arrested by ACB and later on released on court order when they applied for a judicial review of their respective arrests. The two are challenging the arrests as unlawful hence seeking court’s intervention.
Citing the leaked audio, of which authenticity Chizuma confirmed during her meeting with President Chakwera late last month, Nair says “by the words in their natural and ordinary meaning, the defendant meant and was understood to mean” that he (Nair) “corrupted a judge to have him released from custody”.
Commenting on the matter, a law commentator who has requested a dim of his identity has doubted the prospects of Nair succeeding in his suit, saying, among others, his case “unlike in that case of the judge who was directly attacked” may not succeed because she did not specifically allege that it was Ashok Nair who had bribed the judge.
“Unlike in that case of a judge who was directly attacked as having received a bribe from unnamed person to decide the case in favour of Nair, Chizuma did not mention Nair as the one who actually bribed the judge. There is a possibility in meaning that anyone interested in the consequences of the case could be one to have allegedly issued the bribe”, said the commentator commenting exclusive to Shire Times questionnaire.
High Court Judge, Simeon Mdeza is also allegedly set to sue Chizuma for defamation of his character caused by her allegations against him.
