40 Kenya Revenue Authority staff arrested in 2019 suffered a blow after High Court declined their application to quash their intended charges.
Justice Luka Kimaru rejected the application saying he was not convinced by the argument that the intended trail was null and void since the investigation against them was done by the Director of Criminal Investigations which is not allowed to conduct a probe into such matters.
Justice Kimaru also dismissed claims that the prosecution delayed their trial by over a year, hence denying them justice. The judge noted that the suspended employees also contributed to the delay by filing several applications on the issue.
According to Justice Kimaru, the orders stopping the prosecution of the employees will be withdrawn after they are charged.
“This court does not have jurisdiction at that stage of proceedings to give any direction on how the investigations or the decision to charge should be undertaken,” the judge said.
The 40 staff members were arrested in May 2019 after claims that they were acting in cahoots with tax evaders to deny the country revenue. Their phones, personal computers, and other communication devices were confiscated. They were then taken to court and were ordered to pay a cash bail of Sh200,000 to secure their release.
According to the accused persons, their 14-month delay was inordinate and the court should dispute the charges. Through their lawyer Kenneth Omondi they also argued that the DCI had no powers to investigate economic, taxation, and money laundering crimes and the court should permanently dissolve the prosecution.
But the DPP opposed the application had all the reasons to arrest the individuals and they and been given a chance to record their statements in response to the case which is under investigation.
DPP through principal litigation counsel Caroline Kimiri said the investigations were complex and required detailed analysis.
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The accused persons argued that they have cooperated with the investigators and have faithfully appeared before the court when required but the DPP has failed to discharge their duty.
The High Court noted that the 40 employees were correct in stating that the DCI should have deferred to relevant authorities appointed by the Commissioner-General of KRA to probe the tax-related offenses.
