Court quashes Band of the Year results

THE HIGH COURT yesterday ruled that the 2003 senior Band of the Year results are null and void and of no effect. Madame Justice Amrika Tiwary quashed the results in this year’s George Bailey, Harold Saldenah and Lil Hart competitions. She also ordered that damages be paid to the affected bands, to be assessed and legal costs be paid by the National Carnival Commission (NCC). Legends was a popular winner in the Large Band category winning the George Bailey and Harold Saldenah awards with the portrayal “Bedazzled.” Masquerade/Funtasia was the winner of the Lil Hart award in the Large Band category. In the Medium category, Trini Revellers with “Gathering of the Tribes” won the George Bailey and Lil Hart awards with D’Midas and Associates taking the Harold Saldenah award. Three different bands won the awards in the Small Band category. Rosalind Gabriel won the George Bailey award in the Mini Band category with A Jackman taking the Lil Hart and Harold Saldenah awards.

Following the judgment, the NCC expressed its regret over the court’s decision to render the results null and void. The NCC will hold a meeting soon to consider ways of working with all the stakeholders in the community to resolve the difficulties arising from the court order. NCC chairman Kenny De Silva, in a statement, said, “Carnival was a success in many respects, including the administration of the Parade of the Bands. Unfortunately, we fell down in some areas of the judging, and that is a matter we will have to address on the basis of the broadest consultation possible.” The judgment in effect quashed the system of judging used by the NCC and the ranking of bands as a result of that judging.  This means that the NCC cannot award  prizes to the bands it had ranked. Prior to this year, the National Carnival Bandleaders Association (NCBA) was responsible for the judging of bands. Following some controversy among bandleaders, the NCC  decided to take over the judging this year. This resulted in strong protest from the NCBA  and immediately after Carnival, some bandleaders filed an injunction stopping the NCC’s presentation of prizes 15 minutes before it was due to take place.

The affected bandleaders claimed the judging of the competitions did not follow the published rules of the Parade of the Bands and this resulted in some bands getting more points than others. This happened because there were more judges at a certain judging point when some bands paraded and less judges at the same point when other bands paraded, so bands were awarded points from five judges and others by only three. There was no equality in the judging, bandleaders complained. One application was filed on behalf of bandleader Rosalind Gabriel through her attorneys Kelvin Ramkissoon and Om Lalla. The other involved some of the bigger bandleaders, including  Stephen  Derrick,  Richard Afong, Michael Heath and Owen Hinds and was filed by Gregory Delzin, Felix Celestine and Anthony Vieira.  The NCC was represented by Dhamendra Punwassie. Expressing delight of the ruling, Gabriel said it was obvious that the NCC’s judging system was flawed. She was in high praise of her attorneys, and went on to suggest that the judging of Carnival bands should be left to those who have experience.