-says never served with summons
Magistrate Haymant Ramdhani yesterday recalled an arrest warrant he had earlier issued for former High Court Judge Jainarayan Singh Jnr and he has ordered an investigation in the preparation of a recognizance.
Last Friday, the warrant was issued at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court for Justice Singh after he was charged with four separate traffic-related offences, which he allegedly committed last Tuesday at Enmore, East Coast Demerara. Court documents show that Justice Singh was charged with failing to submit to a breathalyzer test; being an unlicensed driver; breach of insurance and driving an uncertified motor vehicle. Reports are that on August 10, Justice Singh was involved in an accident at Enmore, East Coast Demerara around 10 pm.
Singh visited Stabroek News’ office yesterday afternoon to provide an update on the current status of his case.
He explained that after the incident on Tuesday afternoon he was taken to the Cove and John Police Station, where three separate attempts were made to administer a breathalyzer test on him. During the first attempt, he said, police were not satisfied with the device’s performance and opted for a new one.
The second time they attempted to administer the test, he further explained, the results were again unsatisfactory and they decided to open another breathalyzer to implement a third test.
The final test, according to Singh, also did not give the results police were looking for and it was during this time that his daughter, who is also his attorney, Jaya Singh, arrived. After his attorney arrived that night, Singh said, he was advised to allow police to administer another test. The incident, he said, occurred at about 5 pm last Tuesday along the Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara road and he did not leave the police station until 10 that night. “They kept telling me that I was not blowing into the device hard enough,” he explained.
The following morning, Singh said he returned to the Cove and John Police Station and spent more than three hours there. At no time, he insisted, was he informed that he would be charged or was he ever served with a summons to attend court. It was not until Saturday, he added, that he learnt that there were charges against him and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. Police, he recalled, showed up at his residence but he was not home at the time.
Singh explained that yesterday morning, in the company of attorneys Jaya Singh and K. Juman Yassin, he presented himself to Magistrate Ramdhani at the Cove and John Court. There, on his behalf, the attorneys informed the court that he was never served a summons; no notice of prosecution was given to him; and that he was not trying to avoid the jurisdiction since he had been before the same court throughout the week.
These submissions, the former judge said, were upheld by the Magistrate and he was subsequently sent on his own recognizance. He also pointed out that a recognizance which showed that he’d been placed on $10,000 bail was presented to the court. However, Singh stressed that at no time was he ever placed on bail by police.
He further reported that after examining the document it was observed in court that there were at least three different handwritings on the recognizance. “The magistrate pointed this out to the Station Sergeant and ordered that he investigate the matter,” Singh noted.
Singh is to return to court this morning, where the four charges will be read to him and he will be required to plead.
