Ramesh represents PM Mitchell at inquiry

FORMER UNC Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj SC will represent Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell at the Commission of Inquiry into allegations that he took a US$500,000 bribe from American national Eric Resteiner to become a trade representative for the Grenada government. In announcing the appointment yesterday in St George’s, Dr Mitchell noted that Maharaj has had a long and distinguished career and has appeared in several criminal, civil, constitutional and public law cases which decisions are regarded as landmarks in the development of the law in the Commonwealth.

Maharaj is the latest Caribbean lawyer to join the Commission of Inquiry which was announced last week by Grenada’s Governor General Sir Daniel Williams. Barbados Queen’s Counsel Dr Richard Cheltenham was named as the one-man Commissioner, with former Guyana Attorney General Dr Fenton Ramsahoye SC as the counsel to the Commission. Dr Cheltenham is now in Grenada meeting with the Governor General and other persons with respect to the inquiry. Although no date has yet been set, the Commission is expected to begin public sittings on August 23. The inquiry is expected to last one week, according to sources in St George’s.

Maharaj, 58, served as attorney general under the Basdeo Panday administration for five years during which time he spearheaded the passage of several laws in TT which changed the legal landscape of this country, including a new Integrity in Public Life Act which gives the Integrity Commission teeth to investigate persons in public life and to monitor and scrutinise their declaration of assets. The one-man commission will inquire into the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Eric Resteiner as a diplomatic representative of Grenada. The commission will also inquire into the criteria employed and the protocol governing the appointment of non-Grenadians as representatives of Grenada.