Victory for Rawal as Court of Appeal rules it can hear case

Embattled Deputy Chief Justice Kalpana Rawal has a right to appeal, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

The Court of Appeal Friday dismissed Judicial Service Commission’s (JSC) argument that it has no powers to entertain appeals emanating from the bill of rights.

In a unanimous decision, a five-judge bench ruled that the 2010 Constitution gave the second highest court in the land a broad mandate to hear general appeals which the old law did not.

Justices GBM Kariuki, Otieno Odek, Patrick Kiage, William Ouko and Jamilla Mohammed ruled that everyone has a right of appeal from the High Court and holding otherwise would make the bill of rights an empty promise and meaningless.

It took the judges one hour and thirty minutes to resound that the Deputy CJ's case to battle her retirement age will continue.

Rawal's case will now be heard on February 15.