Justice Jones to deliver CJ ruling today

The legal saga began on July 10, when in an exparte hearing Jones granted an injunction to stop criminal charges from being laid against Sharma by deputy DPP Carla Brown-Antoine, for an alleged interference in the outcome of the Basdeo Panday trial which was being heard by Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls. Mc Nicolls had complained that Sharma had approached him (Mc Nicolls) with the intention of influencing the magistrate’s ruling in favour of the former Opposition Leader and Prime Minister who was being tried for failing to declare his London bank account to the Integrity Commission.

In the end, Panday was found guilty and sentenced to two years imprisonment. He is currently out on bail pending an appeal on this sentence, and he spent most of last month at the World Cup Finals in Germany.

Panday returned home last Friday. Brown-Antoine filed an affidavit at the Port-of-Spain High Court denying she gave directions to the police to prosecute the CJ. The deputy DPP also filed a notice seeking to set aside the order made by Jones on July 10.

Subsequently, on July 13, Jones amended the order granted against Brown-Antoine to include ACP Wellington Virgil, thereby blocking both the deputy DPP and ACP from arresting Sharma.

In a late night sitting on July 14, Jones again amended the July 10 order to include all other officers in the Police Service, after a party of officers went to Sharma’s home at Maraval earlier that same day to execute an arrest warrant.

The order was amended a fourth time on July 16 to include CoP Trevor Paul. When the matter again came up before Jones on July 17, she ruled against the application made by Brown-Antoine on July 12, in which the deputy DPP had submitted that the judge set aside the order barring arrest of the CJ. On July 18, attorneys for the CoP and the ACP went before Jones seeking an order for her to vacate the orders she granted restraining them from executing a warrant for the arrest of the CJ. Attorneys Gilbert Peterson SC and Kerwyn Garcia appeared for Paul while attorney Ian Benjamin represented Virgil. Attorneys Alvin Fitzpatrick SC, Rajiv Persad and Adrian Byrne represented the CJ.

After three hours of submissions in the Port-of-Spain High Court, Jones reserved her decision to today, but continued the injunction against Brown-Antoine, Paul, Virgil and all members of the 7,000-strong Police Service.