A High Court hearing conducted in the absence of the defendant in which the defendant was asked to pay US$ 3.7 million was conducted against the principles of the guidelines on live streaming hearings, it has come to light.
High Court's Chief Judge Sujau Usman presided over the bench during the hearing held on Monday. During the hearing, the court ruled that share holder of Sunland Hotels, Hussain Hilmy and Castaway Maldives were to pay US$ 3.7 million to another well-known local businessman, Ismail Sujau within six months from June 15, 2020. Ismail Sujau is the brother of State Minister at Home Ministry, Hassan Sujau.
The ruling was delivered in the absence of the defendant, during a hearing that was closed to the public. While some High Court hearings have been live streamed via YouTube, the case in question was not aired.
When asked why the hearing was not live streamed, High Court's media officer Ameen Faisal cited Chief Judge Sujau Usman and said the case was not live streamed as it involved the personal information of those involved, such as bank account numbers and other personal information.
Although the High Court has stated that it did not livestream the hearing for this reason, the guidelines issued by the High Court on live streaming state that all hearings in which rulings are issued must be live streamed via Youtube if the law does not prohibit it. However, the case in question did not follow the clearly written guideline. The law states that any cases involving children or those related to national security must not be open to the public. While the case heard on Monday was regarding a bad cheque, it should have been live streamed to the public.
When the summary report of the case was first published on the High Court's website, the bank account numbers of those involved were included and visible. However, the information was later retracted. But several case reports which list the bank account details of involved people still remain published on the website. The only information that used to be retracted in the reports before it was published on the website were personal information on children. It is believed that this is the first time that account numbers have been hidden before case reports are published.
The Chief Judge of the High court Sujau Usman has several claims against him being investigated by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). He was among the bench that had issued a ruling cancelling the bank freeze on former president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom's bank account, in relation to his money laundering case. He changed the bench of the case and included him in the bench on his own initiative.
Chief Judge of High Court, Sujau Usman
