A battery of lawyers defending Deputy Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu in court on Wednesday afternoon suffered a blow after presenting an erroneous court order before the anti-corruption court.
The Senator James Orengo-led team had obtained High Court orders seeking to stop the prosecution of Justice Mwilu but Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi rejected the order as 'unspecific'.
In his ruling, the Magistrate asked the defence team to go back to the High Court and seek to have the intended stay orders correctly directed and specified to halt the matter in court.
A court order issued by Justice Chacha Mwita had intended to stop the matter before the Milimani Cout but failed to correctly give reference to the case preferring various charges against Justice Mwilu.
"I can only be bound by an order that is specific. I can not alter a high court order, it must be specific and should not give room for interpretation.
"These proceedings have not stayed since this order does not apply to this case and the accused persons are therefore still subject to prosecution by this court," stated Mugambi.
Mwilu, through Orengo, urged the court to admit the orders saying the case number stated by the High Court directive was specific to the charge sheet issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The defence sought an adjournment of the case to allow them time to pursue amendments on the stay orders.
The Magistrate adjourned the case to allow the High Court an opportunity to make amended orders freeing Justice Mwilu on a Ksh5 million personal bond that had been granted on Tuesday.
The matter will be back in court on Friday, September 1, 2018, when Mwilu and her co-accused will be expected to appear before the magistrate at 11:00 am for mentioning.
