The Drug Enforcement Commission has asked the Lusaka High Court to dismiss with costs, the matter in which Chita Lodge Limited sued the commission for allegedly seizing its property in Lusaka’s Ibex Hill on the premise that its owned by former Zambia Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Eric Chimese.

In this matter, Chita Lodge Limited through its managing director James Chungu, who is jointly charged with Chimese on charges of concealing property, had sued the Attorney General as the first respondent and the Drug Enforcement Commission as second, saying the seizure itself was irregular, illegal, unfair and unreasonable because the said premises had never belonged to Chimese.

However, DEC Chief Investigations Officer Mukelebai Kwaleyela has raised preliminary issues, stating that the court should determine whether Chungu was in order to bring to court, matters that were subject of criminal proceedings scheduled for March 11, 2019 before the chief resident magistrate of the Subordinate Court.

He further asked the court to determine whether it had jurisdiction to entertain Chungu’s application even if it was out of time.

Kwaleyela argued that, Chungu through Chita Lodge Limited had devised a ploy to defeat the cause of criminal Justice in the matter where he has been arrested and charged, by abusing court with his application for leave to apply for judicial review in order to render the criminal proceedings futile.

He further stated that Chungu wanted to use the process of judicial review to obtain documentary evidence and information on how the State wished to proceed when prosecuting his criminal matter at the Subordinate Court.

Kwaleyela applied that Chungu’s application be dismissed with costs.

“On this premise the respondent will apply that the applicant’s application for leave to apply for judicial review be dismissed with costs,” Kwaleyela stated.