An expected ruling on an application on behalf of Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo to strike out the lawsuit calling on him to disclose the academic certificates of PPP/C presidential candidate Irfaan Ali has been deferred.
Following an in-chamber hearing yesterday afternoon, attorney Anil Nandlall, who represents Jagdeo, said that hearings have not yet concluded on the application and as a result the court did not rule.
He said that the matter has been adjourned until March 19th for the continuation of hearings.
Nandlall said that Stephen Lewis, counsel for the applicants—Dianna Deravinee Rajcumar and Phillip Marcus—only served him submissions moments before yesterday’s hearing, to which he now has to reply.
Nandlall maintains that the action is bad in law, frivolous and should never have been filed.
The lawyer said that academic qualifications are not a requirement for being a presidential candidate.
With general and regional elections set for this coming Monday, Nandlall said that the applicants have to be blamed for bringing their actions at what he described as “this late hour,” while noting that Ali had been “chosen” to be the presidential candidate for the PPP/C since January of 2019.
Highlighting that the proceedings were filed just weeks before the elections, he said that one cannot criticize the court for determining the matter at a convenient pace, given its heavy workload.
Asked how relevant the case will be after Mon-day’s election, Nandlall told reporters that it would obviously have no relevance, save for academic importance as a guide for what should be required for future elections.
For the upcoming elections, however, he said that it would have “no practical or pragmatic value anymore.”
Late last month, private citizens Rajcumar and Marcus moved to the High Court over lingering questions about Ali’s academic bona fides, arguing that they are entitled to know the qualifications of the presidential hopeful as with any other, before deciding to vote for a particular candidate.
Against this background, they are calling on the opposition leader—Jagdeo—to make a full disclosure.
Among other things, Nandlall is arguing that the proceedings have no cause of action and constitute an abuse of the process of the court.
His position is that while eligibility of a presidential candidate “may be” a question for the court, suitability, he said, is a question for the electorate while advancing that the suit filed does not question Ali’s eligibility.
The matter is being heard before Justice Franklyn Holder at the High Court in George-town.
In their fixed-date application, Rajcumar and Marcus want the court to order the disclosure of Ali’s certificates.
Ali, who is seeking to win enough votes at the March 2nd general and regional elections and become leader of the country, has been dogged by questions about the authenticity of his academic qualifications.
