JUSTICE Fidela Corbin-Lincoln on Wednesday last dismissed the application filed by Charles Ramson Jr against the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (GNNL), publishers of the Guyana Chronicle.
In the application, Ramson contended that the State newspaper tarnished his professional reputation through an article dated April 20 2017 and captioned “Corruption Probe deepens”, of which he was the subject.
The article had to do with the 2017 police probe into the allegations of corruption involving the then Registrar of Deeds, Azeena Baksh and Ramson.
The allegation was that Baksh approved a $6M waiver in defaulting fees for Film Makers International Limited, following a written request from Ramson, who was the lawyer for Film Makers. In his request, Ramson cited Section 342 C of the Companies Act of 1991.
The article that Guyana Chronicle had published quoted top legal sources who said that it was inconceivable that a lawyer of Ramson’s ilk would quote such a provision in requesting a waiver of defaulting fees. “The whole transaction seems suspicious,” the article quoted the legal sources as saying.
Ramson, in his court application, outlined that the Guyana Chronicle article quoted anonymous sources who sought to “discredit my professional integrity and competence”. The application also said that the article sought to establish a connection between Ramson and corruption.
It was on those grounds that Ramson was seeking general damages for defamation; special damages for loss of income; aggravated damages; exemplary damages; and an order for the Chronicle to publish a prominent apology for and retraction of its publication.
While the newspaper company was represented by Attorney-at-Law Sharon Small, she did not have the chance to present defending arguments on the matter due to Ramson’s default on the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).
A case management was held in October last, and Ramson was expected to file his witness statements. In March of this year, a pretrial review was done, and he defaulted on filing the witness statements.
According to CPR 25:04 (4), a written application has to be made to vary a case management timetable date for trial. Ramson was obligated to file a written application to the court, giving reasons for not filing the statements. No application was before the court. Instead, Ramson filed for an adjournment on May 3, 2019, without giving any reason.
It was on those grounds that Justice Corbin-Lincoln said, “The claim is dismissed. The claimant shall pay the defendant costs in the sum of $250,000 within 21 days of service of this order.”
Ramson was served the order on Friday.
