Suspended CJ files injunction against committee probing her removal

The suspended Chief Justice, Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo, has filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking to restrain a committee set up by President John Mahama to investigate petitions seeking her removal from office.

In the suit filed on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the Chief Justice is requesting an interlocutory injunction to halt all proceedings of the committee, pending the final determination of the case.

According to court documents, the Chief Justice wants the Supreme Court to issue an order restraining the six-member committee, composed of Justices Gabriel Scott Pwamang and Samuel Kwame Adibu-Asiedu, as well as Daniel Yao Domelevo, Major Flora Bazuwaaruah Dalugo, and Professor James Sefah Dziasah, from proceeding with any inquiry related to the petitions brought against her.

The application also seeks to bar Justices Pwamang and Adibu-Asiedu from presiding or participating in any deliberations of the committee.

Further, the Chief Justice is asking the court to suspend the operation of the warrant for her suspension issued by the President under Article 146(10) of the Constitution until a final determination is made on the matter.

The suit, filed by her legal team at Dame and Partners, is expected to be moved at the Supreme Court in the coming days.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court, by a 4 to 1 majority decision, dismissed an application brought before it by a private citizen, Theodore Kofi Atta-Quartey, challenging the process to possibly remove the suspended Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Torkonoo, from office.

Read also: Supreme Court dismisses CenCES case against Chief Justice’s suspension by 4–1 majority decision
The application was deemed unmeritorious and subsequently dismissed on Wednesday, May 21.

This is the second suit on the same matter to have been dismissed by the Supreme Court panel on the same day.

In the earlier suit, the Court, also by a 4–1 majority decision, dismissed a case filed by the Centre for Citizenship, Constitutional and Electoral Systems (CenCES) that sought to reverse President John Mahama’s suspension of the Chief Justice and halt the work of the committee set up to consider her possible removal from office.

The five-member panel comprised Justices Paul Baffoe-Bonnie (Presiding), Issifu Omoro Tanko Amadu, Yonny Kulendi, Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Yaw Asare Darko. Justice Yaw Asare Darko was the sole dissenter in the ruling.

CenCES had argued that the President’s action violated constitutional provisions and sought an order to invalidate both the suspension and the ongoing proceedings by the committee of inquiry.

However, the apex court upheld the President’s decision, allowing the committee’s work to continue.