High Court ruled that the Prosecutor General’s Office missed the deadline to resubmit the case against former Vice President Abdulla Jihad. The deadline expired on October 13, but the prosecution resubmitted the case on October 16, three days late.
High Court has declined to hear the case against former Vice President Abdulla Jihad, following the Prosecutor General's Office's failure to resubmit the case within the specified deadline after confirming Jihad's address.
The case had previously been dismissed by the High Court after the court was unable to summon Jihad due to his address being unclear. The issue arose when Jihad was not found to be residing at the address provided to the court by the Prosecutor General's Office.
Therefore, The High Court had given the Prosecutor General's Office the option to re-file the case once Jihad could be summoned.
Jihad could not initially be summoned while he was abroad. However, he has since returned to the Maldives.
A media official from the PG Office had earlier said that the case, along with all necessary documents of Jihad’s return, was resubmitted to the High Court.
High Court ruled that the Prosecutor General’s Office missed the deadline to resubmit the case against former Vice President Abdulla Jihad. The deadline expired on October 13, but the prosecution resubmitted the case on October 16, three days late.
Therefore, the High Court has decided not to accept the case.
Jihad, who is currently Chairperson of the Maldives International Financial Service Authority (MIFSA), faced charges related to the signing of the Fushidhiggaru Falhu agreement in 2013, when he was the Minister of Finance. The charges were for entering into a joint venture agreement with a foreign company to develop Fushidhiggaru Falhu, which granted the government only a 25 percent stake, against the Maldives government's advice.
Despite accusations that Jihad acted in a way that did not benefit the state, the Criminal Court ruled earlier that the case could not proceed due to mistakes made during the investigation.
The Prosecutor General's Office stated that it appealed the case to the High Court because the Criminal Court’s decision lacked a clear basis and did not provide adequate reasoning. As a result, the prosecution requested that the High Court order a retrial of the case in the lower court.
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