Another twist in the tale of Guyana’s administrative cricket deadlock occurred yesterday when High Court Judge Justice Fidela Corbin granted an interim injunction barring Cricket Ombudsman Attorney-at-law Stephen Lewis from executing his duties.
The application was filed in the High Court since April 2019 by Attorney-at-Law Arudranauth Gossai on behalf of the Berbice Cricket Board (BCB) but a number of legal issues prevented the matter from being heard until yesterday in Georgetown.
The ruling was issued by Justice Corbin at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown where a judges’ conference is ongoing.
Attorney Gossai told Stabroek Sport that he was forced to approach the High Court with a supplementary affidavit in Berbice after the Cricket Ombudsman issued a notice in one of the local newspapers on January 1, 2020, that he will be performing his duties.
The injunction against Lewis will remain in effect until January 27, 2020, when the application will be further considered by the High Court.
This ruling holds significance since it is the Cricket Ombudsman who is mandated to oversee the holding of elections by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) which according to newspaper advertisements will be held on January 26, 2020 – a day before the expiration of Lewis’ interim injunction.
The notice for the GCB’s elections and Annual General Meeting (AGM) was published in the Kaieteur News and the Guyana Chronicle on December 25, 2019, and stated that it will be held on January 26, 2020.
Gossai has described that move as a “mockery of Guyana’s judicial system.”
Lewis was initially appointed as the Cricket Ombudsman in May 2018 by the Guyana Cricket Board but that appointment was challenged in the High Court by the Berbice Cricket Board.
The matter was heard before Justice Corbin who declared the appointment illegal and in contravention of sections 10 and 17 of the Guyana Cricket Administration Act (GCAA) No. 14 of 2014.
However, Lewis was reappointed to the post by Minister Norton in March 2019 under section 17 of the Act.
Lewis, a former president and vice president of the Everest Cricket Club, works with a law firm which represents one faction involved in a number of ongoing court matters against cricket stakeholders. (Royston Alkins)
