A $50M libel suit initiated by Alliance for Change (AFC) Executive Member and Parliamentarian, Veerasammy Ramayyah, against former Region 6 Chairman, Zulficar Mustapha, now Executive Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has been thrown out in the High Court as a result of an embarrassing legal error by Attorney-at-Law Charandass Persaud.

In January last, Attorney-at-Law Charandass Persaud filed a writ in the Berbice High Court on behalf of his client Ramayyah, claiming $50 million from Mustapha.
Ramayyah through his attorney claimed in court documents that he was ‘libelled’ by Mustapha, while he (Mustapha) was speaking at a public meeting in November 2011 at Whim, Middle Walk Dam.
Mustapha was at the time on the campaign trail in the lead-up to the November 2011 Regional and General Elections.
Apart from $50M, Ramayyah through his Attorney Charandass Persaud, both of whom are AFC Executive Members, also sought costs for aggravated or exemplary damages, (legal) costs and any other orders as the court would have deemed just and proper.
On April 12, 2013 both AFC Executive Members were left in the cold when it was revealed that they had filed the case under the wrong heading as instead of ‘libel’ the case should have been filed as ‘slander’.
The primary difference between libel and slander is that libel is the written or otherwise printed public defamation of a person or entity, while slander is the spoken defamation of a person or entity.
The action further unraveled as the High Court in its ruling to abandon the case also found that no effort by Ramayyah through his attorney was made to file relevant documents or continue the proceedings.
Attorney-at-Law Adrian Anamayahhad entered an appearance in February 2012 to represent Mustapha.
In an invited comment Mustapha, who currently holds the portfolio of Executive Secretary of the PPP, indicated he was confident all along that the case would not hold up in court as the charges against him by Ramayyah were frivolous.