For the last 17 years, the battle between StanChart and its 629 former employees has been ongoing. [File, Standard]
The High Court in Nairobi has granted Standard Chartered Bank a reprieve by quashing a Sh709 million cost award by the Retirement Benefits Tribunal in a row over Sh7 billion pension payout.
Justice Gregory Mutai said that although the tribunal had the power to determine how much a losing party should pay to the winning party, he found that the lender was not given a chance to tell its side of the story before a decision was made.
For this, the Judge directed that the tribunal should hear and determine the issue afresh before deciding whether the bank ought to have shouldered the amount incurred by its former employees in pursuit of their retirement benefits.
The bank, in its case, argued that the rules giving the tribunal powers was unconstitutional. It stated that the rules on the costs to be paid in a case were processed and gazetted by the former Finance Minister Chris Okemo instead of the Chief Justice.
Stanchart’s lawyer argued that the regulations were unconstitutional.
“Nowhere does the Minister of Finance have the power to prescribe the cost of a retirement benefits dispute,” argued senior lawyer Chacha Odera.