Court rules against Gordhan in Gupta bank case
THE High Court in Pretoria has dismissed former finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s application for a declaratory order on whether he could interfere in the relationship between the banks and their clients‚ calling the application “unnecessary”.
Gordhan approached the court last year for a declaratory order stating that he could not interve after being pressured to do so by cabinet and the Guptalinked Oakbay.
At the time, his move was widely interpreted as an attempt to put an end to the lobbying and shine a light on the Guptas’ financial affairs.
Gordhan has since been removed as finance minister in a cabinet reshuffle.
The High Court yesterday ruled that Gordhan’s application be dismissed and that he pay costs for the Oakbay Group only.
A full bench of the court said it was the duty of the minister‚ as a member of the national execut to obey‚ respect and uphold the law.
“It is not appropriate for a member of the national executive to draw the judiciary into the exercise of his executive functions as evinced in this applic the court ruled.
There was no statute that empowered a member of the national executive to intervene in a private bank-client dispute. The constitution also did not confer such power‚ it said. — DDC