Two days after filing an appeal before the Full Court challenging what she called errors in a judgment granting former murder accused Marcus Bisram his freedom, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack yesterday withdrew the case from that court.
Maintaining that her order directing Bisram be committed to stand trial was lawfully made, the DPP had filed the appeal citing a number of errors which she said Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall made in arriving at her ruling.
When the matter was called for hearing before the Full Court yesterday, however, it was indicated that the state was no longer proceeding in that court.
Bisram’s attorney, Sanjeev Datadin, told this newspaper that when the matter was called, the court was informed that a notice of application to withdraw and discontinue had been filed.
When contacted, a state attorney explained to Stabroek News that although the case was withdrawn from the Full Court, it has been reinstituted in the Court of Appeal where it is now a pending matter.
The DPP was asking the Full Court to set aside/reverse Justice Morris-Ramlall’s decision, while arguing, among other things, that she erred in law in striking out parts of the state’s affidavit without giving it an opportunity to be heard.
Bisram was released from prison last week Tuesday after Justice Morris-Ramlall ruled the day before that he was unlawfully committed to stand trial. She also granted him an order prohibiting the DPP from bringing an indictment in the High Court charging him with the capital offence.
The judge had found the directive given by the DPP that Bisram be committed to stand trial for the murder of Faiyaz Narinedatt to be unlawful and ordered his immediate release from custody.
Declaring Bisram’s arrest unlawful, Justice Morris-Ramlall nullified the DPP’s direction to Magistrate Renita Singh to re-open the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the charge against him, saying that it was unreasonable and ignored relevant considerations.
It is the DPP’s contention, however, that her directions, given under Section 72 of the Criminal Law (Procedure) Act were lawful, proper and reasonable. In fact, she argues that Bisram’s arrest, too, was lawful and proper, and was asking the Full Court that he be committed to stand trial at the next sitting of the High Court’s criminal assizes.
