CHARTERED Accountant Christopher Ram who has been accused of breaching a contract with Cara Investments Ltd has denied ever entering into contractual arrangement with Cara Investments Ltd relating to the purchase of Hotel Tower. Mr. Ram who was before the court two days ago, said this in his affidavit in answer to the claim by the plaintiff who is seeking damages from him, the defendant, in excess of $1M for breach of contract.
Secretary of the plaintiffs company, Mr. Davina Stephenson who brought the writ against Christopher Ram, Receiver and Manager of Hotel Tower, Georgetown,  disclosed that  since  April 1999,the plaintiffs  expressed to the defendant Ram, their interest  in the hotel ( clearing its indebtedness, its management and viability).
According to Stephenson, the defendant in November 1999 publicly published a request for proposals for Hotel Tower and invited bids for the said hotel. Stephenson who is still being cross-examined by Senior Counsel, Mr. Edward Luckhoo, S.C for Christopher Ram, pointed out that the plaintiffs complied with the tender requirements.
He also said that the defendant on more than one occasion changed the closing date to tenders to the prejudice of the plaintiffs and acted in an unfair and uncommercial manner in respect of the Tender prices.
The tenders were not publicly opened at the eventual closing date. The plaintiffs had a legitimate expectation that that would have been done and an award made.
Instead, he said, the defendant has continued  up to the present time  to manage the hotel business much to his personal gain, did not permit due diligence exercise, and made no award to the plaintiffs, which satisfied, inter- alia, the main requirement, i.e., readiness  and ability  to  pay off the debt  of approximately $2.5M owed by the Hotel to the aforesaid Bank.
According to Stephenson the defendant also wrongly and falsely informed and represented to the directors of the hotel that the plaintiffs’ proposal did not take care of their interests in the Hotel.
In his affidavit, Mr. Christopher Ram said he never entered into any contractual arrangement with the plaintiffs. The fee of $18,000 paid by the plaintiffs is an amount paid to defray administration costs of the document room. It was never intended to create legal relations and “I am advised by Senior Counsel and verily believe that it does not create any binding obligation for the sale of the said property.”
Continuing in his affidavit in answer, Ram said, “That on the December 29, 1999, the plaintiffs in a telephone conversation requested an extension of time of the deadline to submit its proposals by December 29, 1999, because of the Christmas Holidays. The plaintiffs were the only applicants seeking an extension of time. I immediately agreed to their request and so informed them. That on December 30, 1999, to facilitate the plaintiffs’ said request for extension, I sent a letter to all prospective investors granting an extension of 2 weeks to January 12, 2000, so that it may not appear that I am  discriminatory  against them”.
The further hearing of the matter continues before the Chief Justice, Mr. Ian Chang, S.C. on August 19, 2010.
Cara is represented by Mr. Sanjeev Datadin in association with Dr.Fenton Ramsahoye, S.C. while Ram is represented by Mr. Edward Luckhoo, S.C in association with Mr. Rex Mc Kay, S.C.