Court allows Ronny Knight to contest the 2017 National elections
The Supreme Court decision stayed a decision of the Leadership Tribunal on March 20, 2015, and a national court decision on April 19 which convicted him for misconduct in public office and dismissed him from office as Manus MP.
The Supreme Court, presided by Chief Justice Sir Salamo Injia, ordered that the Electoral Commission permit Knight to be nominated as a candidate for the Manus Open seat in the general election.
Sir Salamo said after his assessment of the decisions of the Leadership Tribunal and the national court, including arguments by lawyers, he was of the view that the proceedings in both courts were not properly conducted.
Sir Salamo ruled that there were serious issues raised by Knight in relation to allegations levelled against him.
He said for the interest of justice, the decisions of the Leadership Tribunal and the national court would be subject to scrutiny by a full court through an appeal filed by Knight.
Knight filed the appeal to challenge the decision of the Leadership Tribunal which convicted him of misconduct in public office and dismissed him as the Manus MP, and the national court’s decision made by Justice Colin Makail which dismissed a judicial review case filed by Knight seeking to review the decision of the Leadership Tribunal.
The allegations against Knight was in relation to a decision of the joint district planning and budget priority committee in Feb 2013 to purchase a vessel to provide transport services to the people of Manus.
Sir Salamo said Knight was a political figure who chaired the committee meeting which collectively made the decision to purchase the vessel.
He said Knight did not directly benefit from the collective decision of the committee to purchase the vessel.
Sir Salamo said the allegations against Knight was general, contained defects and badly drafted by the public prosecutor. Meanwhile Knight has nominated in Manus to contest the 2017 National Elections. The National/ PNG Today
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