An Accra High Court has ruled to allow the continuation of the case in which the Pharmacy Council is seeking to perpetually injunct the premiering of a hotline documentary on JoyNews, to run its natural course.

The documentary ‘Drug Store License For Sale’ produced by troubled undercover investigative journalist Daniel Owusu Koranteng, put the spotlight on the issuance of licences for the operationalization of over-the-counter medication shops, without due process.

Lawyers for Daniel Owusu Koranteng had earlier filed a motion to strike out the suit before the court, but when the court reconvened Friday morning, lead Counsel for the undercover journalist, Kofi Essel, waived his right to challenge an affidavit in opposition filed by lawyers for the Pharmacy Council.

Today's brief court proceedings now paves the way for the Plaintiff (The Pharmacy Council), to file their reply within two weeks, followed by an application for direction.

When these requirements are met, witness statements will then be filed by the parties involved, after which the matter will go on trial.

The expose which was billed to premiere in May 2023, exposed how some officials demand as much as 15,000 with the promise of helping prospective clients secure over-the-counter licenses.

According to the Plaintiff (Pharmacy Council), apart from one staff member, an inspecting Pharmacist of the Pharmacy Council who was captured on video, all the other persons alleged to have been involved or complicit in the alleged issuance of licences without due process are not staff of the Plaintiff.

Premiering or airing of the video without stating the full facts of the Plaintiff's findings according to the statement of claim, will be unfair and irreparably damage the reputation of the Pharmacy Council, thus asking the court to perpetually injunct the producer of the documentary and the Multimedia Group Limited from airing same.

The Pharmacy Council among other demands, wants a declaration by the court that the recording of the communication between Daniel Owusu Koranteng and the registrar of the Pharmacy Council without the consent of the registrar is in breach of Article 18(2) of the 1992 constitution.

Daniel Owusu Koranteng, the first defendant in this case is currently on remand following his arraignment by Prosecutors who have slapped him with a provisional murder charge in the assassination case of another undercover journalist Ahmed Suale.

His lawyer in the Ahmed Suale assassination case, Kofi Essel, who represented him in court today on this civil matter, said the production and subsequent premiering attempt of the documentary by Daniel Owusu Koranteng is proof that his client is innocent of the murder charge put on him by prosecutors.

In an interview after the proceedings, Kofi Essel said contrary to the "shambolic" charge by Prosecutors in the provisional charge sheet that his client fled the jurisdiction after the assasination of Ahmed Suale, Daniel Owusu Koranteng has not only been in Ghana, but has been practicing his craft as an investigative journalist.

He says his client is being "witch hunted" and called on the state to be weary of persons who may be pushing for the unjustifiable prosecution of his client because his style of journalism makes them "uncomfortable".