Attorney General (AG) Basil Williams has advanced that the High Court has no jurisdiction to hear the case brought by the Cheddi Jagan Research Committee Inc (CJRCI) which is challenging the revocation of the lease it holds to Red House.
For his part, however, counsel for the CJRCI, former AG Anil Nandlall, has said that the points raised by Williams are “deeply flawed” and have nothing to do with the court’s jurisdiction.
Late last year, President David Granger announced that the lease held by CJRCI to the heritage building would be revoked.
At an in-chamber hearing yesterday afternoon, Williams argued that the affidavit filed by Nandlall failed to fully disclose the material facts of his contention that the lease was “valid, binding and of legal effect.”
He submitted that since CJRCI approached the court ex parte, it was obligated to make material disclosures within its knowledge. He said that it was also required to disclose additional material facts which could have been discovered, had reasonable investigations been made, regarding its case.
According to Williams, one of the material non-disclosures is the fact that there is nothing substantiating that the lease had presidential sanction, nor in particular, that former president Donald Ramotar had sanctioned it while in office. Further, he said that the CJRCI failed to disclose the cost for renting the Red House, which he said was “merely a thousand dollars a month,” for such prime property.
He noted too that it did not disclose, as was required under the Deeds Registry Act, that the 99-year lease was required to be executed in the manner of a transport before the court. “And if it wasn’t, then it is invalid, ineffectual, and could not be pleadable in any court of justice. In other words, it couldn’t be pleaded in this court,” the AG said.
He added that the CJRCI never indicated whether the lease was filed as a matter of record in the Registry, which would again mean, that it could not be pleaded in any court.
According to the AG, the non-disclosure of such material facts prevents the court from having jurisdiction to proceed to hear the matter.
The AG contended too that the applicant’s affidavit also invoked the president’s name by saying that the President ordered that the lease be revoked. By making this inclusion in the affidavit, Williams argued, it is clear that the applicant has notice and that it is the applicant’s belief that it is the President who instructed that the Red House lease be revoked. Williams argued that if this is the case, then the applicant cannot approach the court to sue the President, who, by virtue of Article 182 of the Constitution, cannot be sued.
Williams advanced that all these things would prevent the Chief Justice from proceeding further with the matter, which would thereby entitle her to strike out and discharge the application made by the CJRCI and any order made therein.
According to Nandlall, the issues advanced by Williams deal not with jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter, but whether the case has merits or not. He said that they are premature to have been made at this stage of the proceedings.
The matter has been adjourned to February 28, for the applicant to respond to Williams’ arguments. March 2 has thereafter been set for the court to hand down its decision on the issue of jurisdiction.
Ramotar had previously said, that while he was president, he authorised and sanctioned the issuance of the lease of Red House to the CJRCI.
The matter is being heard by acting Chief Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards.
On December 30, CJRCI secured an order from the court against the government’s revocation of its lease. The consent order operated to freeze the government’s instruction that the High Street premises be vacated by December 31. It sought to restrain the Attorney General and every other officer of the state “from evicting or ejecting or in any way, interfering with the peaceful and quiet occupation and possession of this building by the Cheddi Jagan Research Institute.”
The Cheddi Jagan Research Centre is said to contain important documents and artifacts belonging to the Jagan family and the PPP.
