AG TO DECIDE IF JWALA MATTER GOES TO P.C.

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The Finance Minister has commented on the Appeal Court's ruling that Jwala Rambaran's termination as the Central Bank Governor a few years ago was unlawful.  The Finance Minister said he would call it a loss.  But he has said it would not be his decision to determine if the State takes the matter to the Privy Council in London.  Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript

00:00After the sudden turning ceremony for the New Elections and Boundaries Commission's headquarters in St. Clair on Wednesday,

00:06Finance Minister Colm Imbert fielded questions from the media about the Appeal Court's ruling on Tuesday

00:12that Jawaharlal Nehru had been unlawfully terminated as the Governor of the Central Bank in 2015.

00:18Well, I would not call it a loss. As I said, the paragraph 94 is very important,

00:25and they made the point which is not about the merits of the matter.

00:28In other words, the case was not about whether he was right or he was wrong.

00:33The case was about the manner in which his termination was done.

00:40The Appeal Court ruled that the termination of Mr. Rambaran's appointment as Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago

00:47has contravened his right to a fair hearing in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

00:53The Express Newspaper reported that the Appeal Court's ruling means Mr. Rambaran is to be paid $5.7 million.

01:00The Court of Appeal disallowed the bonus, which was almost $2 million, and the vindicatory damages, which were $175,000.

01:09So the award has been reduced by $2 million.

01:12With the question of an appeal, I mean, as far as I'm concerned, this is a step forward.

01:18The award has been reduced, and these very important points have been made that this was not about the merits of the matter.

01:24The Privy Council in London is Trinidad and Tobago's highest Court of Appeal.

01:28You have to see, you have to understand, it's a constitutional motion, and it was against the Attorney General.

01:33This was not against the Minister of Finance. I was simply a witness in the matter, the principal witness.

01:38But all constitutional matters are defended by the Attorney General.

01:43So he has to decide whether there would be an approach to the Privy Council or not.

01:48I will not give an opinion on that.

01:50The Appeal Court's ruling in the matter concerning the former central bank governor

01:54follows the recent Privy Council dismissal of the Finance Minister's appeal,

01:59in which he sought to prevent Auditor General Jayawanti Ramdas from filing a claim for judicial review

02:05against his decision to set up an investigative team to probe an understatement in the nation's 2023 public financial records.

02:14TV6 News has sought an update from the Finance Minister.

02:17What is the working relationship right now at this time,

02:20the working relationship between the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Auditor General?

02:24Very respectful. Because there was never any real issue, you know.

02:29It was a difference of opinion as to whether the corrections to the accounts that the public servants wanted to put in

02:36could be admitted to the Auditor General's review that they should not be.

02:42The public servants wanted to put them in.

02:44And really what happened here is that the public servants came to me in desperation.

02:49The understatement was between $2.6 billion and $3.79 billion.

02:56Any review that would have taken place, I would imagine, to ensure that such an error does not occur again.

03:01I can tell you something, one of the good things that has come out of this

03:04is that the public servants are being far more meticulous now than they were before.

03:09Certain things they would have taken for granted.

03:11This whole thing has exposed weaknesses and deficiencies in the way they approach their work.

03:17So they're on their P's and Q's right now, which is a good thing.

03:20The law lords in London did not even ask to hear submissions from the Auditor General's lead attorney,

03:26Senior Counsel and former Attorney General, Anand Ram Logan, before making their decision.

03:31Jewel Brown, TV6 News.

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