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Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has launched a scathing attack on the Judiciary accusing it of shielding errant judges and magistrates from punishment for unlawful acts and offenses committed in the course of their work.

DPP Haji claims the bench has gone on overdrive by erecting stumbling blocks for his office and that of Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) by either stopping a case or arrests, even before the two agencies initiate a probe.

Haji, in reference to a Malindi High Court decision to quash criminal charges against Mombasa Principal Magistrate Edgar Kagoni over the loss of heroin exhibit worth Sh30 million in a case he presided over, faulted the Judiciary for condoning acts of impunity involving its staff.

Malindi Resident Judge Reuben Nyakundi had also ordered the respondents in the petition to pay the magistrate Sh2 million as damages for infringing on his rights.

The respondents in the case were the DCI, DPP) and the Attorney-General.

“We are appealing to our colleagues at the Judiciary to try as much as possible not to obstruct the working of other state agencies, especially the DPP and DCI,” he said on Friday as he ordered for the arrest of Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and alongside seven officials in his administration and businessmen over procurement irregularities worth Sh357 million.

“The emerging trend in courts is worrying and that judges have embarked on a sole journey of judicial craft and innovation by guaranteeing parties release that are either not sought or proven,” added an angry DPP.

According to him, the Judicial craft and innovation has embolden persons charged with criminal cases to threaten to defy court orders in the hope that the courts shall protect and shield them from the criminal justice system.

By obstructing the workings of DPP and DCI, Haji said that it gives courage to judicial officers to break the same law that they have sworn guard and to protect.

“We are shocked that the courts have pronounced themselves that DDP, DCI and EACC can’t institute investigations of any of their officers. In fact, they have said we cannot arraign any of their staff or interfere with their independence,” he said.

He said that all state and public officials must let the prosecutorial system run its course so that suspects prove their innocence in the courtroom.