00:00The matter was heard last November, dismissing the State's case and opening the way for the Auditor General to file her lawsuit.
00:09Today, Senior Counsel Avery Synanon tells TV6 the decision of the Privy Council does not determine who's right or wrong.
00:19He explains that it was just procedural and the substantive matter still must be determined.
00:27However, he notes as important that the ruling highlights the fact that the rules of natural justice are not limited to adjudicative proceedings.
00:37He tells the Morning Edition it highlights the treatment meted out to him.
00:42The allegation of bias. That is one of the basis or the main basis of her claim.
00:49And what she's saying is, look, I have a dispute with you. You have chastised me publicly and privately.
00:57But yet you, you, the minister of finance, are appointing a committee to investigate me.
01:03You are appointing them there to report to you. You are paying them. You settle the terms of reference.
01:09So therefore, it leads to the inference you're really being a judge in your own cause.
01:14The senior counsel notes that the Privy Council had no issue with the ministry commissioning an internal probe.
01:21But a line was crossed when the investigation sought to besmirch the reputation of the auditor general.
01:29That is what she's saying. Well, listen, look, you can't do that.
01:32If you have evidence against me, then invoke Section 136.
01:38Yes. And I will deal with it there. But you can't have a private, a private tete-a-tete in the ministry of finance
01:46and impugn my character and impugn my reputation as auditor general, my professional reputation and treat it as a fait accompli.
01:56The attorney tells TV6 Trinidad and Tobago has not fully accepted the Westminster system of which the Privy Council is a part.
02:06As such, he says, he will not be surprised if the ruling is ignored.
02:11Maybe the government might take, might take the position, an escape valve from them to get away from the Privy Council,
02:17the strictures of the Privy Council's decision is to say that that too is one sided in the sense that they have not been heard substantively yet.
02:25The matter has not been adjudicated upon yet.
02:28So that any view, any view expressed by the Privy Council has to be a prima facie view on the facts and matters put forward by Miss Ramdas only.
02:39Yeah. But but a lot, a lot of the facts and matters put forward by her are indisputable.
02:46He believes this could all have been avoided through proper negotiation,
02:52a proper representation having been made to the auditor general,
02:56admitting that a mistake was made and then asking that her office rectify it in the interest of the nation.
03:03However, he believes the matter should be transparently addressed and the chips fall where they may.
03:10Good governance would be enhanced by having this matter properly ventilated and the allegations dealt with once and for all.
03:19Either Miss Ramdas is right or she's wrong.
03:22And if she's wrong, it enhances and fortifies the administration in their trust to provide a certain measure of good governance to the country.
03:32But if she's right, it is damning, as I see, and really impacts negatively and adversely on the on the minister of finance and the Ministry of Finance.
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