THE High Court will retry the matter in which the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) has sued The Post Newspapers proprietor Fred M’membe, suspended Director of Public Prosecutions Mutembo Nchito and JCN Holdings over the settlement of a K14 billion loan.
High Court judge Justin Chashi, who will determine the matter, has set April 28 this year as the date on which the matter will be heard.
JCN Holdings, Mr M’membe and Mr Nchito, who is also former Zambian Airways director, appealed to the Supreme Court against the decision of the High Court to order them to pay the K14 billion owed to DBZ.
The appellants claimed that High Court judge Nigel Mutuna erred in law and facts when he passed judgment in a matter which was discontinued by the DBZ to facilitate investigations on how the case moved from High Court judge Albert Wood, who first heard the case.
The Supreme Court sent back the case to the High Court for a retrial. The court found that there were irregularities in the transfer of the matter from Justice Wood to Justice Mutuna.
Meanwhile, DBZ has demanded specific performance of the legal undertaking by The Post Newspaper and JCN Holdings to pay back the K14 billion debt.
This is contained in the bundles of pleadings filed in the Lusaka High Court.