Nandlall challenges affidavit in Mohamed bail bid, says State needs time to respond
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, on Wednesday challenged the affidavit supporting Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed’s bail application and told the Demerara High Court that the State needed more time to respond to the allegations raised in the filing.
Justice Priscilla Chandra-Hanif heard arguments on the application. Mohamed’s attorneys are seeking reasonable bail for the businessman, who remains on remand at the Lusignan Prison on a cybercrime charge.
Nandlall told the court that the application was filed shortly before 6 p.m. on Monday and served on his office at about 10:50 a.m. on Tuesday. The Director of Public Prosecutions and Magistrate Abigail Gibbs, who are also named in the proceedings, were served later, he said.
The Attorney General said the application runs to more than 50 pages, with 136 paragraphs and a separate bundle of supporting documents. He said it contains serious allegations involving the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, Magistrate Gibbs and other state agencies. The State, he argued, needed time to obtain instructions from those named before it could properly answer the allegations.
“The point I am making is that justice must not be rushed,” Nandlall told the court.
Citing the Civil Procedure Rules, Nandlall submitted that an urgent fixed-date application brought on notice must be scheduled for hearing within seven days of being issued and served at least four days before the hearing. He argued that the seven-day period in this case would run until the following Monday and that both sides should have adequate time to be heard.
Nandlall said the State began reviewing the application immediately and took the view that the supporting affidavit breached several rules governing how such documents must be prepared. He urged the court to examine the affidavit first, given the urgency of the matter, and said the hearing could proceed if the judge found it was in order.
"Afadavits must not be allowed to run astray and to run afoul," Nandlall told the court.
Mohamed was remanded on October 30 when he appeared before Magistrate Gibbs at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court. He was jointly charged with Police Constable Ryan Greene over allegations that they obtained CCTV footage from the Government’s Safe City Initiative in exchange for $800,000
"Afadavits must not be allowed to run astray and to run afoul"…
Nandlall challenges affidavit in Mohamed bail bid, says State needs time to respond
