News
Heritage Flowers Director Punjani Jailed for Three Months Over Contempt of Court
Heritage Flowers Limited director, Mr. Riyaz Punjani, has been sentenced to three months in prison or a fine of KSh 300,000 after the High Court found him guilty of contempt of court.
The ruling, delivered by Lady Justice Njoki Mwangi of the Commercial Division, concluded that Mr. Punjani had deliberately disobeyed lawful court orders, undermining the authority of the judiciary.
“Contempt of court is a grave offence. The deliberate defiance of judicial authority cannot and will not be tolerated,” Justice Mwangi said in her judgment.
The contempt case dates back to November 8, 2021, when Justice Chacha Mwita ordered Punjani to sign cheques required for the smooth running of Heritage Flowers. Despite repeated reminders, he declined to comply.
The matter resurfaced in October 2023 after Punjani allegedly refused to sign his co-director Mr. Shailesh Rai Kumar’s September salary cheque, once again prompting legal action. The court renewed its directive, but Punjani stood his ground, leading to his conviction.
Mr. Kumar, speaking after the ruling, condemned Punjani’s conduct, saying it “reflected a troubling disregard for the rule of law” and undermined the principles of corporate accountability.
Court records show that Punjani’s lawyer failed to demonstrate that the non-compliance was accidental or excusable. The court, therefore, determined that his defiance was willful.
The ruling sends a strong signal that the judiciary will not hesitate to enforce accountability, even against powerful individuals in the business community.
“This judgment reaffirms the principle that no individual, regardless of their status, stands above the law,” Justice Mwangi added.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
KNH ON THE BRINK: How Corruption, Revenue Plunder and State Neglect Are Destroying Kenya’s Flagship Hospital
Receivers In TransCentury Sh6B KRA Tax Arrears Are Biased And Must Be Removed, COFEK Claims
The Man Behind the Badge: How Prof. Erastus Kanga Turned Kenya’s Premier Wildlife Agency into a Theatre of Corruption, Fear and Impunity
How Little Known KwikBet Leveraged Stolen Kenyans Data To Build Its Empire
The Jaffer’s : How The Fuel Scandal Exposed The Sons Who Poisoned Kenya’s Fuel Tanks
THE FIXER IN THE FILE ROOM: How Parliamentary Health Committee Clerk Adan Gindicha Cleared Mediheal Hospital of Organ Harvesting Claims Despite Mounting Evidence
Report Reveals How Betika’s Empire Was Allegedly Built On Stolen Data
Nairobi Freezes Binance Accounts in Sweeping Anti-Fraud Crackdown as Global Scandal Record Haunts World’s Largest Crypto Exchange
EXCLUSIVE: Odibets Bought Stolen Data From Millions Of Kenyans
Taiwan President Cancels Trip After African Countries Close Airspace
Forged Legacy: How Kaplan and Stratton’s Peter Gachuhi Is Accused of Faking a Top AG’s Will as State Claims Damning Evidence
Sold And Abandoned: How Diageo and Asahi Are Locking Kenya’s EABL Minority Shareholders Out Of East Africa’s Biggest Corporate Heist
Poison at the Pump: How Kenya’s Fuel Marking System May Be Exposing Millions to Cancer-Causing Chemicals
Inside Details Of Sh78 Billion Fraud in KPC’s Mombasa-Nairobi Line 5 Pipeline Project That Has Continued To Bleed The Country
THE HANDSHAKE THAT BECAME A NOOSE: How Tuju’s Alleged Intimate Access to EADB’s Yeda Apopo Produced a Sh294 Million Deal With No Written Contract, and Why That Trust Destroyed an Empire
How Firm Linked To Mombasa Tycoon Jaffer Was Allowed To Import Fuel At Bloated Price And Set To Make Billions In Profits From Iranian War Crisis In Kenya
THE ZAKHEM-ECOBANK MACHINE: How Kenya’s Courts Were Weaponised to Drain a State Corporation of Over KES 78 Billion
The Lawyer at the Centre of Kenya’s State Machine: Eric Gumbo, the AG’s Bypassed Office, and the Half-Billion-Shilling Question
The Teflon Company: How Gulf Energy’s Insiders Built Billions on Kenya’s Fuel, and Walked Away Clean
The Debt They Would Not Pay: How Standard Group Ducked Sh50 Million In Regulatory Fee For Years, Then Called It A Witch-Hunt
-
Business1 week agoKenyan Motorists Stare At Possible Engine Damage And Heavy Losses As Report Confirms Substandard Fuel In Circulation
-
Business1 week agoGetting Away With It: How Kenya’s Most Politically Connected Fuel Company Gulf Energy Is Pocketing Billions While Rival Firms Face Public Wrath
-
Business1 week agoTHE FUEL CABAL: How Mohamed Jaffer, a KPC Insider, and a Ministry Official Are Alleged to Have Manufactured Kenya’s Worst Petroleum Crisis in Three Years, While Kenyans Burned
-
Business2 weeks agoHow Safaricom Could Sell You Out To KRA
-
News2 weeks agoThe Kewota Racket: How Kenya’s Female Teachers Are Being Bled Dry
-
Business1 week agoSugar Empire in the Dock: How Kibos’s Mombasa Refinery Landed 1,481 Phantom Tonnes at the Port — and Why Nine Government Agencies Are Now Watching Its Every Move
-
Business2 days agoReport Reveals How Betika’s Empire Was Allegedly Built On Stolen Data
-
Business6 days agoTotalEnergies Moves to Sue TikToker for Sh10 Million Over Contaminated Fuel Claim as Kenya’s Petroleum Sector Burns