A plea to stop proceedings in the case involving Mr James Gyakye Quayson, the Assin North Member of Parliament, was denied by the Accra High Court.
The Court, presided over by Justice Elfreda Dankyi, stated that the applicant had not addressed the problems through his counsel, and that there must be some extraordinary conditions for the proceedings to be stopped, which were not addressed in Counsel's statement.
She stated that the petitioner had not presented any unique circumstances that would justify granting him a stay of proceedings.
Earlier, the MP's lawyers claimed that part of the allegations were based on constitutional issues, prompting the request for an interpretation.
The application, according to the accused person's counsel, was filed in defiance of a previous Court judgment.
The charges against the accused person are "knowingly making a false statutory declaration," which is punishable under Section 5 of the Statutory Declarations Act 1971 (Act 389), "perjury," which is punishable under Section 210(1) of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29), and "false declaration for office," which is punishable under Section 248 of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29)."
However, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, stated that the attorneys who filed the request did not present any unusual circumstances justifying the stay of proceedings.
She explained that a stay of proceedings could only be granted when extraordinary circumstances were proved, as well as the Court's discretion.
The fact that the accused individual had referred an issue to the Court for constitutional interpretation did not entail that the stay should be granted, according to the DPP.
She said that referring the case to the Supreme Court for constitutional interpretation was unnecessary.
Mrs Obuobisa stated that the MP had not been charged with any item that was in violation of the Constitution's Acts.
She stated that the State was prepared to provide evidence to support its case against the defendant.
The DPP stated that the accused individual had failed miserably to show any exceptional circumstances justifying the issuance of a stay, and that the mere fact that they had filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal did not imply that the petition should be granted.
Mr Quayson has been granted bail in the amount of GHS100,000 with a reasonable surety. The defendant pled not guilty to all five counts of deception of a public officer, forging of a passport or travel certificate, intentionally making a false statutory declaration, perjury, and making a false declaration for Office.
He must surrender his passport to the Court's Registry.
The case was delayed until May 18, 2022, by the Court.