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Manji now withdraws appeal against Mengi
2008-04-25 10:22:46
By Bilham Kimati
Dar es Salaam businessman Yusuf Manji yesterday withdrew an application he had previously filed in the Court of Appeal in Dar es Salaam related to a defamation case filed against him by the Executive Chairman of IPP, Reginald Mengi.
Manji had applied for a review of case procedures that call for court assessors in media defamation cases to be professional journalists. The case is still pending in the High Court.
Chief Justice Agustino Ramadhan, flanked by Judges Harold Nsekela and Damian Lubuva, heard the lawyer representing Manji, Justice Mandele, say his client was no longer interested in the case and had therefore decided to withdraw the application.
The judges accepted the submission. Manji`s application with file number 30/2008 was then officially withdrawn.
The case was set for hearing on March 10, this year before High Court Judge Amir Mruma.
However, Manji filed an application to the Court of Appeal.
However, the applicant, Manji, did not appear in the court yesterday, just as was the case when another ruling was passed by the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA).
Commenting on the unfolding situation, Mengi said: “A few days ago Manji took me to court but he never appeared in person.
I stopped my official duties and came to court, but he didn`t. This time again, he made me take the trouble of sitting here, only to hear at the last minute that he had withdrawn the application.
This is absolutely outrageous. Why didn`t he withdraw the application earlier?` Mengi asked.
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