The Zomba High Court sitting as a Constitutional Court has rejected an application by businessman Abdul Karim Batatawala and former Director General of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, Elvis Thodi, seeking to dismiss a money laundering case against them on the grounds of its constitutionality.
Batatawala and Thodi contended that they were being prosecuted under a law enacted in 2017 for offenses alleged to have occurred between 2010 and 2012. They also raised concerns about violations of their right to a fair trial as guaranteed by section 42 of the Constitution.
However, Justices Patrick Chirwa, Texious Masoamphambe, and Dick Sankhulani, sitting as a panel, unanimously rejected their application. They ruled that the previous law in force before the 2017 Financial Crimes Act contained similar provisions.
As a result, the case will proceed in the Magistrate’s Court. According to Anafi Likwanya, the Chief Legal Prosecuting Officer of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, only one or two witnesses remain to be heard before the conclusion of the case in the lower court.
Thodi and Batatawala are facing charges of money laundering, accused of inflating the value of materials supplied by Batatawala to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services.
