Court dismisses Crispod Limited’s appeal for time over Auditor-General’s surcharge

The Finance and Economic Crime Court (High Court Division) has dismissed an application for an extension of time filed by Crispod Limited to enable it to appeal against the Auditor General’s decision to surcharge the company following an audit.

Crispod Limited, represented by Mr Christian Kpodo, was surcharged GHC 11,903,868.95. per an audit report released on December 31, 2016.

Dissatisfied and aggrieved, it appealed to the Court for an extension of time to appeal against the decision.

The Court, presided over by Mrs Justice Afia Serwah Asare Botwe, on May 15, this year, however, dismissed the application saying, "The application is obviously out of time as same was filed on October 2019, almost 3 (three) years after the decision of the Auditor General.”

It, however, did not award any cost against Crispod Limited.

The High Court noted that the Supreme Court, the apex court of the land, in an April 10, 2019 ruling, held that aggrieved persons had within 60 days to appeal against the Auditor-General’s decision.

“The law, as it stands now, is that an aggrieved person may appeal within 60 days, and have an additional window of opportunity to apply for extension of time upon the expiry, for another 14 days, failing which time would elapse."