The Office of Special Prosecutor has been barred from effecting any warrant allowing it to arrest the former Secretary of the defunct Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bissue.

The court presided over by Justice Nicholas Abodakpi has also asked the OSP not to apply for a further warrant of arrest until the case filed by Mr Bissue is determined.

The OSP has for more than 2 weeks been trying to interrogate Mr. Bissue for his role on the anti-galamsey committee. The office has declared him wanted but he is yet to show up despite assuring he will do so.

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His lawyers on Thursday morning urged the High Court to injunct the OSP.

“That by failing to make available a copy of the Petition and for that matter, the particulars of the complaint forming the basis of the investigation for which the Ist Respondent (OSP) had invited the Applicant, the 1st Respondent is acting in a manner which is unfair, unreasonable and unlawful and thus, contrary to the provisions of the aforementioned L.I. 2374 and Article 23 of the Constitution 1992.

"That the Applicant was reliably informed some time on or around the 7th of June 2023, that the 1st Respondent had applied to the 2nd Respondent and had been granted an Arrest Warrant against him, notwithstanding the fact that the aforementioned Motion for Interlocutory Injunction remained pending.”

Lead counsel Nana Adjei Awuah also told the court the OSP had issued a notice declaring his client wanted.

He argued such a notice has no place in law since his client had not been slapped with any charges.

"That notwithstanding the pendency of the Motion for Injunction seeking to restrain the 1st Respondent from executing the purported Arrest Warrant, the 1st Respondent has proceeded to declare the Applicant as Wanted in a Notice widely published in the media on 13th June 2013. Annexed hereto and marked as Exhibit "Q" is a copy of the said Notice declaring the Applicant Wanted.

That the said Notice is not only illegal as same is a product of an Arrest Warrant procured contrary to the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure)Act, 1960 (Act 30) but also the application for an Arrest Warrant by the 1st Respondent and the grant of same by the 2nd Respondent was in breach of Article 23 of the Constitution, 1992.

That the said Notice by the 1st Respondent is in wide circulation and could be executed any second by the 1st Respondent."That the said Notice by the 1st Respondent is in wide circulation and could be executed any second by the 1st Respondent.

That in the circumstances, the aforesaid Arrest Warrant granted by the 2nd Respondent to the 1st Respondent out of which the said Notice has been produced, ought to be quashed or cancelled.”

He also provided the court documents indicating various interactions Mr. Bissue had had with the investigative body. He insisted such a person cannot be declared wanted.

The court granted the request barring the OSP from executing any warrant procured.

He is also barred from applying for another warrant and publishing notices until the determination of the case. This order is to last for 10 days.

The OSP is however not backing down in its quest to engage Mr. Bissue. Sources within the office tell JoyNews they do not need a warrant to arrest a person reasonably believed to have committed an offence.

Sources also explain that a person published as wanted simply means that person has refused, ignored or neglected to attend to the summon of the investigative body.