Businessman Yagnesh Devani’s bid to end his prosecution over the Triton oil scandal has taken a new turn after the High Court rejected his constitutional petition seeking to quash four criminal cases against him.
Justice Roselyne Aburili ruled that Mr Devani's petition raised issues that should be determined by the criminal trial court rather than constitutional litigation.
She reckoned that the trial over the alleged irregular loss of Sh7.6 billion from Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) that was started by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) should continue to a conclusion.
The verdict comes 20 months after a Nairobi magistrate's court permitted the DPP to withdraw corruption-related charges against Mr Devani and Triton Petroleum amid objections from his co-accused who had not been freed from the suit.
Mr Devani was charged in 2024 after his forcible return to Kenya, having remained at large since 2008 when authorities accused the KPC of releasing petroleum products worth nearly Sh7.6 billion to his company, Triton Petroleum.
The oil products were being held at KPC as collateral for bank loans and were released without the knowledge of several financiers, including KCB, Glencore and Fortis Bank, which had funded the imports for Triton and were the legal owners of the reserves.
The judge found that Mr Devani had failed to demonstrate that the DPP acted unlawfully, abused prosecutorial powers or violated his constitutional rights in pursuing the charges.
"This court sitting as a constitutional court or a judicial review, may only interfere where it is shown that criminal proceedings have been instituted for reasons other than enforcement of criminal law or otherwise abuse of the court process," said Justice Aburili in a July 3 judgment.
She added: "The proceedings initiated by the DPP... to continue until conclusion."
In October 2024, the magistrate allowed the prosecution to withdraw the charges against Mr Devani and Triton as the DPP prepared fresh charges against the businessman and the oil firm.
The fresh prosecution was also short-lived.
The DPP later applied to withdraw the Devani criminal case, citing the death of some witnesses and the unwillingness of others to testify.
The magistrate allowed the withdrawal on October 28, 2024, triggering confusion over the effect of the July 3 verdict by the High Court.
In his heyday, Mr Devani courted high profile political links, including cabinet secretaries. He lived a lavish lifestyle of fast cars, sharp suits and big parties.
The petition, dated July 13, 2023, stemmed from four criminal cases filed in 2009 and 2011 following the collapse of Triton Petroleum, then one of Kenya's largest oil marketing companies.
Mr Devani, the company's founder and chairman, faced more than 20 counts, including conspiracy to defraud, theft, obtaining by false pretences and fraudulent disposal of mortgaged goods.
Court records show Triton collapsed in 2008 and was placed under receivership before liquidation.
Investigators later opened criminal investigations into Triton's financing and petroleum storage transactions involving KPC and foreign financiers.
Mr Devani remained in the United Kingdom for about 16 years before his extradition to Kenya in January 2024 under a long-standing warrant of arrest.
While in the United Kingdom, he filed the July 2023 High Court petition seeking declarations that the prosecutions were unlawful and sought orders quashing all four criminal cases and an injunction restraining the DPP from pursuing them.
He argued that the charges arose from commercial agreements signed in 2004 involving Triton, KPC, KCB, Emirates National Oil Corporation and Fortis Bank (Nederland) N.V.
The businessman maintained that those disputes belonged before civil courts rather than criminal courts.
Mr Devani also argued that KCB had recovered its debt under a March 2009 deed of settlement after he surrendered assets to satisfy outstanding liabilities.
According to the petition, Triton had annual turnover exceeding Sh70 billion, employed about 3,000 people, controlled 39 percent of Kenya's oil import market and paid taxes worth Sh800 million annually since 2005.
He argued that continuing the related criminal charges after that settlement amounted to an abuse of the criminal process.
Before withdrawing the criminal suit, the DPP opposed the petition, saying investigators from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had gathered sufficient evidence to support prosecution.
