– upholds Kamal Ramkarran’s appointment as Cricket Ombudsman

HIGH Court Judge Franklin Holder has dismissed the application filed by former secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB), Anand Sanasie and others, challenging the appointment of cricket ombudsman Kamal Ramkarran and the legality of the historic GCB elections that were held in March 2021.

The application was filed by Sanasie, Chairman of the Enmore Community Centre Cricket Club, Bheemraj Ramkelewan and others against the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, the Attorney General, and Ramkarran.

The case challenged the decisions of Minister Charles Ramson, who on February 19, 2021, by public notice, appointed Ramkarran an attorney-at-law as the Cricket Ombudsman, pursuant to Section 17 of the Act, and designated February 26 2021, as the date set for the GCB elections.

The applicants moved to the High Court seeking an injunction to prevent Ramkarran from holding and conducting those elections.

The reliefs sought by the applicants in their Notice of Application dated February 22, 2021, were refused by the court on February 25, 2021.

The GCB elections took place on March 29, 2021, and a newly elected board was formed.

However, on June 29, 2021, the applicants filed an amended application seeking a series of reliefs including an Order of Certiorari quashing the decision of the minister to fix a date for the elections on the grounds that the said decision “is null, void, illegal, invalid, unreasonable, irrational and of no legal effect.”

Against this backdrop, the application also sought an order prohibiting and preventing the minister from appointing a Cricket Ombudsman.

The application also sought orders nullifying the appointment of Ramkarran and also to declare the office in question under the Guyana Cricket Administration Act was vacant.

They also contended that the Cricket Ombudsman was required to establish and verify a register of clubs prior to the holding of the elections.

In a press release, the Attorney General’s Chambers said that the judge in his ruling, which was delivered on Friday, May 13, 2022, found that Ramkarran’s appointment was lawful and in compliance with Sections 7 and 17 of the Guyana Cricket Administration Act.

The judge further found that the Act does not define what is a register of clubs nor does it speak to the Cricket Ombudsman establishing a register of clubs.

As such, the judge held that it is unreasonable for the Cricket Ombudsman to create the register of clubs and then verify the same.

“He found that by Section 9 of the Act it was the County Boards which shall keep a register of clubs within their respective county. It was for the Cricket Ombudsman to verify the register of clubs and determine the method he uses to verify same as the verification process is not prescribed in the Act,” the release said.

It added: “The learned judge therefore considered the method used by Mr. Ramkarran as laid out in his affidavit. In doing so, he found that the Essequibo Cricket Board was non-compliant and therefore they cannot use their reluctance to comply, to stymie the holding of the elections. The judge, therefore, held that Mr. Kamal Ramkarran as the Cricket Ombudsman did his best and complied with the provisions of the Act prior to the holding of the elections on the 29th March 2021.”

The court, therefore, dismissed the application with costs to be paid to the Attorney General, Ramkarran and the Guyana Cricket Board in the sum of $350,000 each, the release said.