A Supreme Court appeal involving Veronica Malani has been adjourned to October 14 after her newly appointed lawyer sought time to familiarise himself with the case.
The appeal was called before Chief Justice Salesi Temo yesterday, when lawyer Sevuloni Valenitabua confirmed he had recently taken over the case. He informed the court that he had only received the case documents the previous day and requested time to review them.
The case stems from Ms Malani’s attempt to challenge a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to charge former attorney-general Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum over allegations relating to two bombing incidents in 1987.
Ms Malani lodged a complaint with police in July 2020, alleging Mr Sayed-Khaiyum’s involvement in the incidents and seeking possible charges, including murder, assault causing grievous bodily harm and attempting to injure by explosive substance. Following investigations, police referred the file to the Office of the DPP, which announced in January 2021 that no charges would be laid.
The High Court dismissed her subsequent application for leave to seek judicial review of the DPP’s decision in September 2021. A later application for leave to appeal was also unsuccessful.
In June 2025, the Court of Appeal refused Ms Malani leave to appeal against the High Court’s decision, ruling the appeal had no realistic prospect of success nor did it raise any matters of public interest or importance or relate to any novel legal issues.
Ms Malani then appealed to the Supreme Court.
