HIGH Court Judge, Franklyn Holder, on Tuesday, ruled that the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) had usurped its powers and acted unlawfully when it cancelled Atlantic Fuel Inc (AFI)’s licence to trade and wholesale fuel.

Dr. Richard Van-West Charles was the Director of the company when the licence was cancelled on March 16, 2021.

According to AFI’s attorney, Siand Dhurjon, the fuel company had filed a lawsuit against the GEA, seeking aamong other things, an order of certiorari to quash the decision of the GEA and its Chief Executive officer, Mahender Sharma to cancel the licence.

The AFI was also seeking an order of mandamus commanding the GEA and Sharma to take all steps necessary to reinstate the company’s Import/Wholesale Licence on the basis that the cancellation was a nullity in law, arbitrary, ultra vires, unreasonable, irrational, unfair and an abuse of power.

Dhurjon related that Justice Holder granted the said orders and ordered that GEA pay costs to his client.

Dhurjon said that in Sharma’s sworn affidavit, he mentioned that AFI committed a crime under regulation 70 of the Petroleum Regulations 2014 in that it submitted false information to the GEA knowing it was false.

The lawyer said that Sharma stated that the submission of an invoice bearing an incorrect supplier to the GEA triggered the agency’s investigation, the seizure of the fuel and the cancellation of AFI’s fuel import licence.

According to Dhurjon, the judge found that Sharma’s cancellation “ran afoul” of the laws and regulations and that the CEO did not have the powers of a court to determine that AFI was guilty of breaching regulation 70 when the summary courts were exclusively statutorily designated to do so under law.

The judge held that every state agency or statutory body ought to act within the powers given by Parliament. “Their role should not be usurped,” he said in his ruling.

On July 14, 2021, Justice Holder granted Dhurjon’s application for a mandatory interim injunction reinstating AFI’s licence pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter.

According to Dhurjon, AFI strongly denied that it had any role in creating the false invoice or any knowledge of the falsity of the invoice.

“The cancellation of AFI’s import wholesale licence effectively shut down AFI’s business of importing, trading and reselling fuel and placed it and its employees on the verge of financial ruination. AFI had to fire employees, move offices and borrow money to stay afloat as a result of Sharma and the GEA’s illegal actions,” Dhurjon said.

This is AFI’s second successful lawsuit against a government agency.

On March 15, 2021, Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George had ordered the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the GEA to pay $15M to AFI for storage costs associated with the fuel they had unlawfully detained in 2020.

The Chief Justice had also ordered the two agencies to return over 600,000 liters of diesel fuel they had unlawfully seized from the company.