Magistrate Geeta Chandan Persid-Edmond yesterday issued an arrest warrant for Ravi Mangar who did not appear in court and hindered her handing down a ruling in the witness tampering matter for which he and Mark Reid are charged.
When the magistrate asked Reid if he knew why Mangar did not attend court, Reid said he heard that there was a “problem at [Mangar’s] home on Saturday night” which subsequently caused him to visit the hospital. He said nothing further and could not say why Mangar was absent.
When Magistrate Persid-Edmond asked the prosecutor if he wished to make any submissions at that point, state-appointed prosecutor Sanjeev Datadin asked that an arrest warrant be issued for Mangar as there are procedures that should be followed if an accused realizes that he/she would be unable to attend court.
Datadin contended that Mangar should have “communicated to the court that he was unwell, if that’s the case, and as a result would have been unable to attend court.” He reiterated the accused should have ensured that the court was aware of his likely or definite absence.
Echoing Datadin’s sentiments, Magistrate Persid-Edmond said that a warrant would be issued for Mangar’s arrest.
In indictable matters where preliminary inquiries are conducted, magistrates cannot hand down a ruling in the absence of a defendant or defendants, therefore an adjournment was granted.
In addition, the attorneys representing the accused were also absent from yesterday’s hearing. When the magistrate asked Reid why his attorney Mark Waldron was not at court yesterday Reid said that he could not say. “I don’t see him,” he said calmly.
The matter has been adjourned to September 8 for ruling. The long adjournment was granted as the magistrate told the court that she would be proceeding on leave while Datadin indicated that he too would be absent for two weeks.
The matter against the two accused which is being heard at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court stemmed from the carnal knowledge of two females for which Chandra Narine Sharma has been charged. On April 26, Sharma was charged with attempting to obstruct the course of justice.
It is alleged that on April 15, he knowingly attempted to obstruct the course of justice by removing two of the girls at the centre of the allegations against him from their known address and taking them to a house at 123 Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara in order to prevent them from being questioned by police.
