Justice Sandra Kurtzious has set June 16th to rule on the application filed by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who is seeking to set aside a $20M default judgment he has been ordered to pay former government minister Annette Ferguson who had brought a libel action against him.
When the matter was called yesterday morning, the judge related that she was in receipt of written submissions from both sides and that the Court would move ahead with fixing a date for ruling.
Back in March, Justice Kurtzious granted Ferguson a judgment ‘in default of defence’ after Jagdeo failed to file his defence within the 28-day time period specified in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR).
Two days after being served with the order, Jagdeo filed an urgent application seeking to set aside the default judgment and an order dismissing Ferguson’s “Statement of Claim for delay.”
During the hearing yesterday, Jagdeo’s attorney, Devindra Kissoon restated the claim that his client was unaware of the default judgment, and continued to hold to the position that the failure for the defence being submitted on time, was due in part to Jagdeo’s preparations for the March 2nd, 2020 General Elections and limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic.
His contention is that the judgment was irregular and went against the provisions of the CPR; while describing the “excuses” proffered by his client as being “reasonable,” and his defence “proper.”
Ferguson’s attorney Lyndon Amsterdam, however, reemphasized his previous arguments of the excuses being poor, and of the defence put forward having no merit or real prospect of success.
He again said, too, that the ruling on the default judgment was sound and in accordance with the CPR.
Through Amsterdam, Ferguson had slammed Jagdeo’s explanation of being preoccupied with general elections and the constraints brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, as mere excuses for not complying with the timeline in which he needed to file his defence to her action.
In January of last year, she filed a $60M lawsuit against Jagdeo—the then Opposition Leader and the Guyana Times newspaper, over what she said were libelous statements made by the two, calculated to damage her character and reputation.
In her suit against Jagdeo, Ferguson was seeking damages in excess of $50,000,000 for libel she said he committed on two separate occasions—December 5th and 12th of 2019 for which she was asking for more than $25M in damages for each occasion.
In her separate action against the Guyana Times, the former Minister is seeking damages in excess of $10M against the news entity which she said had published the alleged libelous statements made against her by Jagdeo.
Ferguson had alleged that Jagdeo had made what she said were untrue statements regarding her acquisition of land.
