Panday loses to Gordon in Privy Council Law Lords order $300,000 in costs

The Judicial Committee (Board) of the Privy Council agreed with the majority decision of the local Court of Appeal and ordered Panday to pay Gordon, the former CCN chairman and now chairman of the West Indies Cricket Board, the Appeal Court’s $300,000 in damages and not $1 as ordered by Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma in his dissenting judgment.

Panday said yesterday that he would abide by the decision of the Privy Council. "It is the final court of appeal," he said.

Initially, Justice Peter Jamadar had ordered Panday to pay Gordon $600,000 in damages, but later, the Court of Appeal in a two-one majority decision — Justices Roger Hamel-Smith and Margot Warner reduced it to $300,000. CJ Sharma awarded Gordon just $1.

Panday appealed to the Privy Council, still complaining to the Law Lords among other things that the damages were too high. But their Lordships said they detected no indication that the Court of Appeal misdirected itself when it reduced damages to $300,000. As a matter of fact they said: "An award of $300,000 was more appropriate and fair to compensate Mr Gordon and vindicate his reputation, bearing in mind that the latter objective had already largely been achieved."

Yesterday’s Privy Council’s judgment upheld Gordon’s first judgment, except for the quantum, against Panday for calling him a pseudo-racist. The Privy Council ruling also upheld the majority ruling of the Court of Appeal, except for Chief Justice Sat Sharma who delivered a dissented judgment in favour of Panday.

In their judgment delivered by five judges, the lordships stated that they could not agree with legal arguments which supported Chief Justice Sat Sharma’s ruling in Panday’s favour. "The submission made on behalf of Mr Panday was that on these points, the Chief Justice’s approach is to be considered. Their Lordships are unable to agree," the judgment stated.

In its 12-page judgment delivered in London yesterday, the lawlords referred to the Panday and Gordon case as an unfortunate dispute between two leading citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

Gordon’s defamation case against Panday arose out of a remark Panday, as Prime Minister in 1997, made at an Indian Arrival Day function in Chandernagore, Chaguanas. Gordon sued for defamation and on October 11, 2000, Justice Peter Jamadar delivered a judgment.

In their judgment, the lawlords referred to Jamadar’s judgment as very comprehensive. Panday was also ordered to pay Gordon’s legal costs.