Pharmally’s Mohit Dargani files complaint vs CA justice for 'delay' in resolving petition

Pharmally executive Mohit Dargani has filed an administrative complaint against a Court of Appeals (CA) justice for alleged undue delay in the resolution of his petition questioning his detention amid the Senate probe into the government's spending on COVID-19 response. 

He urged the Judicial Integrity Board, a body established by the Supreme Court, to impose administrative sanctions on CA Associate Justice Apolinario Bruselas Jr., saying the magistrate violated the New Code of Judicial Conduct for the Philippine Judiciary, which requires judges to perform their duties, including the delivery of decisions, "efficiently, fairly, and with reasonable promptness." 

Dargani and fellow Pharmally official Linconn Ong were transferred to the Pasay City Jail in November 2021 after they were held in contempt by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee for their refusal to answer questions during an investigation into the procurement of COVID-19 supplies and equipment.

Dargani's sister Twinkle was also cited in contempt, but she was detained at the Senate.

Dargani is one of the petitioners in the habeas corpus case pending before the CA Special Fifth Division chaired by Bruselas.

The matter was partially resolved on March 1 when the CA dismissed Twinkle's plea for being moot and academic because she was released from detention for humanitarian reasons on January 11.

"To the complainant Mohit Dargani, this was deeply frustrating and bewildering as the Honorable Division's resolution was silent as to his petition for habeas corpus despite the fact that he still remained in detention at the Pasay City Jail, four months since he was brought there on November 29, 2021 and since he filed a petition for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus on November 19, 2021," the complaint stated.

Dargani said the petition should have been deemed submitted for resolution as early as December 12, 2021, after the lapse of the 10-day period given to the Senate to file its comments.

“The respondent Justice is guilty of undue delay in the disposition of the petition for habeas corpus filed by the complainant back on 19 November 2021,” the complaint read.

“The continued inaction of the respondent Justice, as the presiding justice and ponente of the case, shows that he has decided to shirk on his duty as a magistrate and to turn a blind eye to the plight of a person whose constitution[al] rights have been gravely violated,” it added.

An applicant for an upcoming vacancy on the high court, Bruselas told the screening body, the Judicial and Bar Council, on Tuesday that he was not aware of the complaint against him. 

Nonetheless, Bruselas said there has been a "little bit of delay" in resolving the petition due to the reorganization of the CA following new appointments and COVID-19 lockdowns that led to the physical closure of courts.

Bruselas also said they are still within the rules' deadlines for resolving such cases.  —VBL, GMA News