Panday’s charges put off to March 14

THE CHARGES laid against former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday relating to his London bank account have been put off to March 14 next year. When the matter was called yesterday before Chief Magistrate Sher-man Mc Nicolls in the Port-of-Spain Eighth Magistrates’ Court, Panday’s attorneys Des-mond Allum SC, Fyard Hosein SC and Rajiv Persad were in court. Hosein told the court that the defence was awaiting a date for the hearing of the appeal on a constitutional motion brought by Panday in his attempt to block the hearing of the charges. He said the record of the appeal was settled on Thursday. Hosein also revealed that Panday will be out of the country in December and January, and therefore requested March 14 for the case to be listed.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Carla Brown-Antoine said she had no objection to the adjournment, saying the appeal was still pending. Panday’s court appearance was low-keyed. His only supporter was Dorothy Cummings. There were no party supporters, Chandresh Sharma or Robin Montano as on previous occasions. Assistant Commis-sioner of Police Wellington Virgil filed three charges on September 18 2002 against Panday under the Integrity in Public Life Act 1987. The Leader of the Opposition is accused of failing to declare his account at the NatWest Bank at Westminster, London, for the years 1997, 1998, and 1999. Before the hearing of these charges could begin, however, Panday’s attorneys argued a constitutional point which the Chief Magistrate referred to the High Court in April 2003 for determination.