Judgment reserved in radio case

The appeal was heard on Tuesday before five judges in London. The appeal was heard before Lords Hoffmann, Hope, Hutton, Browne and Mance.

The Maha Sabha was represented by Dr Fenton Ramsahoye SC, Allan Newman QC, (who represented former prime minister Basdeo Panday at the integrity trial) and Anand Ramlogan, while Peter Knox and John Almeida appeared for the Attorney General.

The Maha Sabha formed CBSL and applied for a radio licence in 1999 under the UNC Government. The licence was not granted, but on March 13, 2002, Louis Lee Sing applied for a licence for his company Citadel Limited and a few months later, that licence was granted, during the term of the PNM Government.

The Maha Sabha filed a constitutional motion against the Attorney General claiming unequal treatment, but this was rejected by the TT High Court. The Maha Sabha appealed and on January 27, 2005, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the religious organisation.

The Court of Appeal comprised Justices Roger Hamel-Smith, Margot Warner and Alan Mendonca.

The Appeal Court found the Maha Sabha suffered unequal treatment by the State and ordered that it be paid damages. But the court turned down an application by the Maha Sabha for a licence to be granted immediately by the Cabinet.

The court also rejected submissions of mala fides by the State. The Appeal Court gave the Cabinet 28 days within which to place the application for a radio licence before it.