The Supreme Court has struck out an application by the former Chief Justice, Justice Gertrude Araba Esaaba Torkornoo, seeking a review of an earlier ruling of the apex court.
The seven-member panel, presided over by Justice Hafisata Amaleboba, held that the motion filed on June 23, 2026, had not been properly withdrawn and, therefore, could not be considered.
After hearing submissions from counsel on Thursday, July 3, the court granted leave for the application to be withdrawn and ordered that the motion be struck out as withdrawn.
Counsel issue
At the sitting, Justice Amadu Tanko raised concerns about the status of former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame, who had previously filed processes in the matter.
“Why are you in this matter? We take the view that Godfred Yeboah Dame was not formally discharged. His motion was not struck out,” Justice Tanko said.
The court observed that, in the absence of a formal discharge of the previous counsel, both the notice of appointment filed by new counsel and the motion before the court were procedurally defective.
“Given the scenario, both the motion and notice of appointment are not properly before the court and cannot be granted,” the court held.
Withdrawal application
Justice Henry Anthony Kwofie Ackah-Baofour, another member of the panel, noted that the appropriate procedure should have been an application for leave to withdraw rather than a mere notice of withdrawal.
“It shouldn’t have been a notice of withdrawal but an application for leave to withdraw,” Justice Ackah-Baofour said.
Responding to the court’s observations, counsel for Justice Torkornoo, Kwabena Adu Kusi, sought leave to formally withdraw the review application.
The Deputy Attorney-General, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, indicated that the state did not oppose the request.
“We’re not opposed,” Dr Srem-Sai told the court.
The panel subsequently ruled that the motion filed on June 23 be struck out as withdrawn.
Background
Justice Torkornoo had filed the review application after the Supreme Court, by a 4-1 majority decision on May 28, 2026, dismissed her injunction application that sought to halt processes relating to the petitions for her removal from office.
In the earlier suit, she had asked the apex court to restrain the committee investigating the petitions and to suspend all related proceedings pending the determination of a substantive constitutional challenge.
The review application sought to have that majority decision reconsidered by a differently constituted panel of the Supreme Court.
