Thoshan Panday seeks dismissal of 2010 World Cup criminal case over delays - IOL

After a 16-year legal battle, Durban multimillionaire businessman Thoshan Panday is fighting to have the criminal case against him dismissed on the grounds of unreasonable delays.

Panday has filed court papers calling for judicial intervention and for the case to be dropped. Judgment in the matter is expected tomorrow (Friday).

Documents seen by the Daily News show that the application before the High Court has been brought in terms of section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act. This empowers a court to investigate delays in criminal proceedings and determine whether they have become unreasonable.

The application concerns criminal proceedings arising from events alleged to have occurred in 2010. Panday was arrested in October 2020, and the matter has therefore been pending without the trial having commenced.

Panday said the case had taken its toll on him. He was arrested amid allegations of procurement irregularities involving accommodation for police officers during the 2010 World Cup.

“I am being persecuted here, and all the shenanigans that have occurred are now coming to light. In all these years, the case has not been able to proceed because they have not been able to provide us with the information we need to prepare for trial. In order to have a trial, you need a pre-trial process.

“There was a separate case that I had to deal with, and that case took less than two years to resolve. We are now awaiting judgment. This case has been going on for years because the State did not want to provide documents.

“It is perfectly clear that there is a mandate to keep this case in court, no matter what. This case seems to be there to intentionally and financially ruin me. The advocates appointed do not come cheap,” he said.

Panday added that his name had been tarnished in the media, with reports damaging his reputation without giving him a proper opportunity to respond to the allegations.

The documents further show that the central issue raised by the defence is the prolonged and, in its submission, unreasonable delay associated with the State’s disclosure of information and material required by Panday to prepare his defence properly.

“The defence first formally sought further information in April 2021. Over the years that followed, a series of further requests were made, and the matter was repeatedly adjourned in an attempt to resolve the outstanding disclosure issues,” the document states.

“Ultimately, the accused approached the High Court for an order compelling the State to provide the outstanding information. That application succeeded, and in June 2024 the High Court ordered the State to provide the information identified in the order within 21 days.”

The document claims that the State thereafter sought leave to appeal aspects of that order. Importantly, the defence contends that certain material which the State itself accepted the accused were entitled to receive fell outside the ambit of the appeal and nevertheless remained outstanding.

“The defence case is therefore not based simply upon the passage of time. It is based upon the history of the proceedings, the repeated attempts by the accused to obtain disclosure, the orders made by the court, the subsequent appeal process and the continuing effect of the outstanding disclosure on the accused’s ability to prepare for trial,” the document states.

The accused contend that material central to the preparation of their defence remains outstanding, thereby directly affecting their ability to prepare properly for trial.

“The relief sought is an order in terms of section 342A(3)(c) striking the criminal proceedings from the roll and directing that the prosecution may not be resumed or instituted afresh without the written instruction of the Director of Public Prosecutions,” the document states.

Attempts to get comments from the NPA and IDAC were unsuccessful.