Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran, is suing Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo for in excess of $30,000,000 for allegedly slanderous statements he said Jagdeo made against him at a press conference and a public rally back in March of this year.
Though having filed his statement of claim with the court on September 22nd, Goolsarran said his various attempts to serve papers on Jagdeo have been fruitless.
He said that accompanied by a Marshal, he has visited Jagdeo’s residence, his Robb Street Freedom House office and the Office of the President on seven occasions, all to no avail.
Goolsarran (the Claimant) said that at the two offices, they are always being told that Jagdeo is not there.
He said that at the final visit to the Office of the President on September 29th, the guard contacted Jagdeo’s Secretary, who then enquired whether the visit had anything to do with the action filed by Goolsarran.
Goolsarran said the Marshal informed the Secretary that she “was not in a position to discuss it on the phone.” The next response the Marshal got he said, was that Jagdeo was not there.
Meanwhile, during the visit to Jagdeo’s Goedver-wagting, East Coast Deme-rara residence, Goolsarran said they were informed that “he was sleeping and could not be disturbed.”
In his multimillion-dollar suit, Goolsarran said that the statements made by Jagdeo have besmirch-ed his character as they make certain false allegations against him when he served as Auditor General.
He said that they hit at the very core of his integrity and standing both in local and international circles where he is well-known and respected.
Against this background, he is asking the Court to grant a permanent injunction restraining Jagdeo (the Defendant) from repeating the slander he alleges, or from causing it to be printed or published.
Goolsarran said that following the utterance of the defamatory statements, he had his attorney write Jagdeo, specifically pointing out the defamation; requesting they be withdrawn and an apology made.
He said that through his lawyer, Jagdeo responded by letter refusing to withdraw or apologize, contending that “the statements represented fair comment and matters of public interest.”
Goolsarran said that the Vice President then went on to make further defamatory and untrue statements about him in that said response.
Of the claims made against him by Jagdeo that he had failed to produce audits for the country for almost a decade, Goolsarran pointed out what he submitted was the reason for this; but was keener in underscoring that he was not even the Auditor General during the period Jagdeo spoke.
A fact he said Jagdeo himself knows quite well.
Goolsarran nonetheless deposes in his SoC that the reason there had been a gap in the reports for the 10-year period, was because “the IBM 3/15 mainframe computer had crashed, and as a result the data needed to produce the financial statements could not be accessed.”
He said that it was the responsibility of the Government, through the Ministry of Finance, to prepare and submit draft financial statements constituting the public accounts.
He said that these must be submitted to the Auditor General by 30th April each year; and thereafter, the Auditor General would then audit the accounts and present his report to the National Assembly by September 30th of each year.
To the extent that the Government does not submit draft financial statements for audit, Goolsarran said “there is nothing that the Auditor General can do, except perhaps to inform the Assembly of the Government’s non-compliance with the law.”
He said that for the period 1982 to 1991, “the Government was unable to produce for audit draft financial statements constituting the public accounts on the ground that the IBM 3/15 mainframe computer had “crashed”, and as a result the data needed to produce the financial statements could not be accessed.”
The former auditor general said that Jagdeo “was aware of this being the reason publicly coming from the then Government, he at the time from 1985 to 1992 being a senior staff member of the Ministry of Finance with the then Government.”
Goolsarran said that the statements made about him by Jagdeo have “gravely” injured his reputation and “exposed him to public scandal and contempt and have caused him great embarrassment and distress, considering his standing in society, both locally and internationally.”
The former auditor general deposes, too, that because of those statements, his chances of obtaining employment overseas have been greatly diminished, thereby depriving him the right to earn a living.
He said that in particular, the YouTube recordings of both forums at which he alleges Jagdeo slandered his name, attracted 10,000 and 12,000 viewers, respectively, as of September 8th.
He goes on to add that he “has been brought into public ridicule, odium and contempt…has suffered great distress and humiliation, and his standing in society has been lowered in the estimation of right-thinking members.”
Goolsarran is contending that “the statements were deliberately calculated and intended to harm” him and were also “deliberately contrived to abuse freedom of speech” to his detriment.
On this point he said that he was not Auditor General during the period 1982 to 1990; stating the he was appointed to the position on December 31st, 1990; while adding that considering Jagdeo was Minister of Finance and subsequently President, he would have known of this.
In addition to exemplary and aggravated damages, the Claimant is also seeking interest on all damages awarded, costs; and any further Order the Court deem just and proper to grant.
Goolsarran is being represented by attorney Khemraj Ramjattan.
