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Daily News appeal case opens Monday
MISA-Zimbabwe
October 05, 2006

The case in which ANZ, publishers of the banned Daily News and Daily News on Sunday, is seeking a High Court order to be duly licensed was on 5 October 2006 postponed to next Monday at the request of the state-controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC).

The ANZ is arguing that it should be duly licensed because the MIC has failed to deal with their application to be registered in terms of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) within a specified period.

This followed High Court judge Justice Rita Makarau's judgment in February 2006 in which she ruled that the MIC board chaired by Dr Tafataona Mahoso was biased against the ANZ. Justice Makarau ruled that Mahoso was biased against ANZ, publishers of the banned Daily News and Daily News on Sunday.

The judge said the MIC's impartiality was tainted by the proven bias of its chairman, Dr Tafataona Mahoso thereby barring all members of the Commission's board from involvement.

Following the ruling, ANZ then filed an application for a High Court order to be duly registered arguing that the Minister of Information and Publicity as the appointing authority, can appoint a special board to determine its application for a licence or instruct the MIC secretariat to issue a certificate of registration.

In his opposing papers, the now deceased Minister of Information Dr Tichaona Jokonya, said AIPPA did not provide for the appointment of an interim committee to adjudicate over the ANZ's application to be licensed.

The minister argued that he could only appoint an independent committee to adjudicate over the ANZ application if AIPPA is duly amended.

Background
On 14 March 2005 the Supreme Court referred back to the MIC the matter in which ANZ was seeking an order allowing them to resume publication.

The ANZ duly filed its application with the MIC. In July 2005, the MIC, however, refused to grant the ANZ an operating licence citing its alleged breach of sections of AIPPA, resulting in its appeal to the High Court and Justice Makarau's subsequent judgment.

The protracted legal battle between ANZ and the MIC goes back to Chief Justice Chidyausiku’s earlier judgment in September 2003 in which he ruled that the publishing company had approached the court with "dirty hands" when it challenged the constitutionality of sections of AIPPA.

The ANZ had refused to be registered with the MIC pending the decision of the Supreme Court on its constitutional challenges. It subsequently applied to be registered following Chidyausiku's "dirty hands" judgment.

In turn, the MIC refused to grant them the licence opening a series of appeals and counter-appeals between ANZ and the MIC after the Administrative Court ruled that the Commission should allow them to publish.

The Supreme Court then consolidated the appeals and counter-appeals debacle to be heard as one case leading to the March 2005 judgment.

However, in his March 2005 judgment, the Chief Justice allowed the MIC's appeal against the Administrative Court's decision for the ANZ to be allowed to operate.

In the same vein, he however, ruled that the MIC had erred in refusing to grant ANZ an operating licence at the material time in question.

He then referred the issue of the registration of ANZ back to the same Commission which refused to license ANZ, for consideration as a fresh issue.

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