Court adjourns contempt action over Chief Justice comments

The committal proceeding against businessman Feroz Mohammed took a step forward after senior lawyer Gavin O’Driscoll informed the court that he had instructions to accept service of the Notice of Motion.

The Chief Registrar initiated the committal proceeding against Mohammed over allegations that he posted a video on social media containing derogatory comments about Chief Justice Salesi Temo.

The matter was called before a three-member bench comprising Justice Savenaca Banuve, Justice Dane Tuiqereqere and Justice Siainiu Fa’alogo Bull yesterday.

The Attorney-General’s Office had sought to have the documents served on Mohammed by courier or through the New Zealand Embassy at the address he had provided.

O’Driscoll told the court that an email had been sent to the Solicitor-General’s Office and Deputy State Solicitor Ofa Solimailagi regarding service through his office.

He said he was surprised that the Attorney-General’s Office had not considered the email.

However, the Attorney-General’s Office disputed this, saying it was still waiting for evidence of the email exchange.

All three judges agreed that the matter had been delayed and needed to progress.

The court adjourned the proceeding to November 10 for a mention to check on service of the documents and determine the next steps.