Legal experts says ACC can't order halt to Villa's lagoon sale

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) does not have the authority stop the sale of K. Vaaveddhifalhu lagoon, which is leased to Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim's Villa Group for tourism development, legal experts have said.

Some of the islands and lands that were previously leased to Villa were replaced by various lagoons during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's tenure. However, the lagoons were taken over in December 2015 on the ground that the work was not going as per the lease agreement. Villa regained the lagoons after the Supreme Court ruled in their favour.

ACC on Monday ordered the sale of K. Vaaveddhifalhu on the ground that a case related to the lagoon has been filed by an individual.

Lawyer Mariyam Shunana said on Twitter on Monday that the tourism ministry was well aware that the ACC does not have the power to stop the sale of the lagoon.

Referring to a Supreme Court precedent that the ACC does not have the authority to halt such transactions, Shunana said the government should also not follow such illegal directions.

Shunana noted the Supreme Court's 2012 ruling in the case in which the government of former president Mohamed Waheed terminated an agreement with Malaysia's Nexbiz company, which was entrusted with setting up a border control system in the Maldives.

According to the judgment, the ACC does not have the power to take steps such as blocking or cancelling an agreement between two parties on the basis of a suspicious criminal offence.

Other members of the legal fraternity, who spoke to Atoll Times on the issue, also pointed out that there was no way the ACC could directly stop a private business or business transaction, in particular.

ACC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.