Nairobi — Proceedings in a criminal case involving several accused persons, including senior bank executives, were halted after the court was informed that some of the accused had obtained High Court orders staying the trial and restraining their arrest.

The matter came up for mention, with the court told that summons had been issued to accused persons two to seven and that all had been duly served.

Counsel representing the second and third accused persons informed the court that they had obtained conservatory orders from the High Court on Friday, which stayed the proceedings before the trial court.

The orders also barred the arrest of the two accused and prohibited the trial court from taking their plea pending the hearing and determination of their application before the High Court.

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The court was further informed that the orders had been served, and as a result, the second and third accused persons did not appear in court.

In addition, counsel said the third and fourth accused persons had separately obtained High Court orders restraining their arrest, detention, or continuation of proceedings against them. The orders also stayed the operation of summons issued against them.

For the sixth and seventh accused persons, the High Court was said to have issued orders staying any further proceedings in the trial court or any other related proceedings.

Counsel for the defence maintained that all the orders had been duly served, arguing that the trial proceedings were therefore effectively stayed.

However, State counsel Momanyi told the court that the prosecution had not yet received the orders allegedly issued in respect of the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh accused persons.

He said the prosecution had only received orders relating to Paul Russo and KCB Bank, and had requested defence lawyers to serve the remaining orders to enable verification of their authenticity and scope.

The prosecution urged the court to set the matter for mention on Wednesday to confirm service of the orders and allow all parties to verify the documents placed before the court.

The court is expected to review the status of the High Court orders and give directions on the way forward, including whether the proceedings will remain suspended pending the outcome of the constitutional applications.