DPP transfers Dhanraj case to POS

DHANRAJ SINGH will now have to face trial for murder in the Port of Spain Assize Court.

Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson has transferred Singh’s case from the San Fernando Assizes. Singh, 42, a former Local Government Minister, who is charged with the murder of former chairman of the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corporation, went on trial last month in the First Assize Court, San Fernando, but halfway through that hearing, trial judge Justice Melville Baird aborted the case. DPP Henderson has given no reason for the transfer except to state that the ends of justice require him to do so. A copy of the letter has been sent to Singh’s attorney Karl Hudson-Phillips.

In a notice filed in the Registry of the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain, on April 9, Henderson stated that pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Act, Section Three, “I now therefore consider that the ends of justice so require and I do hereby transfer for trial from San Fernando to the Port of Spain Assizes.” The DPP has the power to transfer any case for hearing from any court. Hearing of Singh’s case comes up on the Cause List tomorrow in the San Fernando Supreme Court. At this hearing, the judge is likely to refer the case to the Cause List hearing in the Hall of Justice.

Neither Hudson-Phillips nor his juniors were available yesterday when Newsday sought to enquire whether the move to transfer the case would be challenged. Legal sources told Newsday yesterday that while the DPP has the power to so do, he must show reasons.