Damages to be assessed for former trade unionist Maharaj

In 2014, the local appellate court ruled that Maharaj was treated unfairly by Manning’s Cabinet. No order for damages was made, and the former trade unionist appealed to the London- based Privy Council which yesterday reversed the local court’s decision on compensation.

Maharaj’s attorney, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, who is in England, said yesterday that by this judgment, “the Privy Council had developed the law to give the court greater power to redress abuse and misuse of power committed against individuals by the Government, the Cabinet or public institutions and authorities against individuals.” In their ruling, the five judges of the Privy Council held that as an action for compensation for constitutional redress under section 14 of the Constitution, Maharaj could have been awarded damages.

In sending the matter back to the local courts, the judges advised that the judge carrying out that exercise will need to address the question of “vindicatory damages”, which they noted were designed to “reflect the sense of public outrage, emphasise the importance of the constitutional right and the gravity of the breach, and deter further breaches. “These are matters which par excellence fall within the province of a local tribunal, better equipped than is the Board, to make a judgment about the significance of the failure of the Cabinet to verify the claims made by Mr Achong and, more particularly, to revisit the decision after Mr Maharaj’s comprehensive refutation of those allegations,” the judges said.

The local court of appeal found that Maharaj was treated unfairly by the Cabinet’s failure to take reasonable steps to verify allegations made against him before determining whether to re-appoint him as a member of the Industrial Court.