…High Court nixes PPP bid to halt charges against Ashni, Brassington
THE High Court has refused to grant an interim order to halt the case brought against former Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh and Head of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL) Winston Brassington for alleged misconduct in public office, even as it proceeds to hear an application for dismissal of the charges.
It therefore means that Dr. Singh and Brassington will be required to appear in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Monday May 7, 2018, to answer to the charges of misconduct in public office, which were first read two weeks ago.
In the High Court on Wednesday, a battery of lawyers led by Anil Nandlall made an oral application before Justice Franklin Holder for an interim order to restrain the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan or any other magistrate from hearing the case or taking any further steps in respect of the Information Upon Oath of Munilall Persaud, Corporal of Police of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on April 12, 2018, brought against Brassington and Dr. Singh.
The oral application entered by attorneys Stanley Moore, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, Mark Waldron, Ronald Burch-Smith and Sase Gunraj was done on the grounds that it is “an abuse of the process, arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, malicious, biased, [and] without any proper evidential basis, made in bad faith, influenced by irrelevant and improper considerations and motives, unreasonable, discriminatory, unlawful, null, void and of no effect.”
SOCU is alleging that Dr. Singh and Brassington while performing the duties of Minister of Finance and Chairman of NICIL, and NICIL Chief Executive Officer, respectively, by way of Agreement of Sale and Purchase acted recklessly when they sold to National Hardware Guyana Limited a (sic) tract of land for the sum of $598,659,398 without first having procured a valuation of the said property from a competent valuation officer. This is one of three charges brought against the duo for the common law offence of misconduct in public office.
In the presence of Solicitor-General Kim Kyte-Thomas and Principal Legal Advisers Judy Stuart-Adonis and Onika Archer of the Attorney General’s Chambers representing the interest of the government, the applicants’ attorneys also filed a ‘Fixed Date Application’ for an Order or Writ of Certiorari to be issued quashing the case brought against Dr. Singh and Brassington in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court by SOCU, based on sworn information by Corporal Persaud.
The application was made on the grounds that it is “an abuse of the process, arbitrary, capricious, whimsical, malicious, biased, [and] without any proper evidential basis, made in bad faith, influenced by irrelevant and improper considerations and motives, unreasonable, discriminatory, unlawful, null, void and of no effect.”
In that “Fixed Date Application,” which is the substantive application, the legal team representing Dr. Singh and Brassington also among other things applied for an “interim order restraining the learned chief magistrate or any other magistrate within the Georgetown Magisterial District from hearing or attempting to hear or determine or taking any further steps in the case.
The hearing was in chamber, however, outside of the courtroom. The solicitor-general disclosed that the oral application filed by Nandlall and team for an immediate interim stay was not granted by Justice Holder. “An interim application was made this morning by Nandlall for the judge to grant an interim stay of the proceedings. After listening to arguments from Mr. Nandlall and team, and state and team, the application was refused, so the magistrate can proceed to hear the matter,” the solicitor-general explained.
Kyte noted that leave was granted by Justice Holder for the State to file an Affidavit of Defence. Nandlall and team were also granted leave to file a reply. On May 16, 2018 at 13:30hrs, both parties will return to the High Court to present their arguments on the request for an interim stay which forms part of the “Fixed Date Application.” Nandlall and team are seeking to have an interim stay, thereby preventing the chief magistrate from proceeding with the case until a determination is made in the substantive case.
However, the solicitor-general made it clear that the oral application for an immediate interim stay was not granted. “It was not granted. The magistrate can proceed, the judge has given us leave to file an Affidavit of Defence in relation to what they are contending in their fixed-date application and we return to court on the 16th May for arguments,” she stated.
“The magistrate can proceed with the charges, no application was granted, the charges must continue,” she emphasised.
Challenge
Nandlall in a separate interview with reporters, said: “We have filed proceedings challenging the legality and validity of the charges and that will take some time to determine; and while we await the determination of that substantive matter, in the meanwhile [sic] we want an interim order, staying the hands of the magistrate from going forward.”
Nandlall, however, did not disclose that his oral application for an interim stay to prevent the magistrate from proceeding with the case involving Brassington and Dr. Singh was not granted.
Head of SOCU, Sydney James and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Teshana James-Lake, were also present at the High Court on Wednesday.
