ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, S.C., was recently awarded $10 million in damages, after he won his defamation case against his predecessor, Basil Williams, S.C., for libellous statements made in relation to the alleged theft of law books.

In April 2017, Nandlall had filed the lawsuit against Williams over claims that he (Nandlall) had stolen a series of Commonwealth Law Books from the State while he occupied the office of Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs.

In her ruling, which was released by Nandlall’s office on Saturday, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry awarded damages of $10 million to be paid by Williams. She also applied interest on the award at a rate of 6 per cent per annum, from April 4, 2017 to June 29, 2023.

Additionally, the judge ruled that interest of 4 per cent per annum would be applied after June 29, 2023, until the judgement is fully paid. Justice Sewnarine-Beharry also ruled that costs, in the sum of $1.6 million, must be paid by Williams to Nandlall by August 18, 2023.

The case stems from a series of public statements made by Williams, who alleged that Nandlall had stolen government property, specifically law books, during his tenure.

Williams, who was appointed to office in 2015, repeatedly accused Nandlall of criminal acts, thereby tarnishing his reputation, and causing him significant harm.

During the trial, Nandlall provided evidence, including video recordings and newspaper articles, that clearly established Williams’ defamatory statements. The court found that Williams’ remarks were false, malicious, and had a detrimental impact on Nandlall’s personal and professional standing.

Justice Sewnarine-Beharry, in her judgement, noted that the defamatory statements made by Williams had only one natural and ordinary meaning: That Nandlall was dishonest, a thief, and unfit for public office.

She further emphasised that the evidence presented overwhelmingly supported Nandlall’s claims, and discredited Williams’ defences of justification and fair comment.

In her ruling, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry stated, “The defamatory words published by the defendant were unequivocal in their meaning, and had a damaging impact on the Claimant’s reputation. Williams failed to provide any substantiation for his claims, and the evidence overwhelmingly established that the statements made were false and defamatory.”

The court awarded Nandlall $10 million in compensatory damages, taking into account the gravity of the libel, the extent of publication, and the distress and humiliation caused to Nandlall.

Nandlall presented evidence, including a video recording and newspaper articles, to support his claim. The court applied legal principles to determine whether the words published were defamatory of Nandlall.

Nandlall had explained to the court that the law books were purchased for him by the State, with the approval of former President Donald Ramotar. Nandlall had explained that the law books, which were acquired during his term in office, were in his possession, and that he had no intention of returning them to the State.

It was previously disclosed that he commenced subscribing to Lexis Nexis (U.K.), publishers of the Commonwealth Law Reports, sometime in 2003, and the arrangement was that the reports were to be shipped to him, along with an invoice.

He noted that before his appointment as Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs, he had requested that, as a condition of his service, the State should stand the related expenses.

After the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) lost the May 2015 elections, Nandlall vacated his office and took the law books with him.

Thereafter, whenever Nandlall was publicly critical of Williams, the latter threatened to embarrass him by making the issue contentious, and publicly alleged at a press conference that Nandlall was implicated in some “Law Books scandal”. This caused Nandlall to issue a public statement, denying the allegation.

In his defence, Williams contended that Nandlall misused public funds, and breached the Financial Management and Accounting Act 2003, the Financial Expenditure Procurement Process and Stores Laws and Regulations. He also relied on the defences of justification and fair comment.

However, the judge ruled that Williams “failed to produce one iota of evidence” to support this defence.

“The defendant repeated, categorically, in absolute and unqualified terms that the claimant committed a criminal offence; that is that he “stole government property”. The defendant made assertions of fact and not comments, when he published the defamatory statements of and concerning the claimant. Further, the defendant failed to prove the existence of facts which justify the comment, and as such he cannot avail himself of this defence,” the judge said.

In 2017, Nandlall was charged with Larceny by Bailee in connection with the law books, which he dubbed a political and sinister motive from the then A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government.

However, in 2020, the charge was withdrawn, based on instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack.