The Attorney General calls the conduct of the previous administration in the matter of Auditor General Jaiwantee Ramdass disgraceful as she withdraws her claim against the State which is ordered to pay her legal costs.
00:00In the matter of Auditor General Jaywanti Ramdas versus the state while it has come to a close with the court ordering the state pay her legal costs.
00:10The dispute started in April 2024 when Ramdas refused to accept backdated and other information from the Finance Ministry to clarify an initial $3.4 billion understatement of revenue in the 2023 audited accounts
00:26as she contended it was past the January statutory deadline for submission.
00:31Subsequently, in a rift that ensued between the Finance Ministry and the Auditor General's Department,
00:37then Finance Minister Qom Imbert ordered an investigation be conducted into what led to the eventually downgraded $2.6 billion understatement.
00:48That investigation was set to include the Auditor General's Department and her conduct.
00:53Ramdas contested this legally through her legal team at Freedom Law Chambers, saying it was unconstitutional.
01:01In November last year, five law lords of the Privy Council dismissed an appeal brought by Imbert and the Cabinet
01:07over Ramdas being granted leave to pursue a lawsuit over the fairness of the probe.
01:13Lady Ingrid Simler called it unfortunate that Imbert challenged Ramdas' ability to pursue the case instead of allowing the judges to decide.
01:22Lady Simler further criticized the appearance of bias, saying while the scope of the investigation
01:27included the Auditor General's office, the Finance Ministry was omitted.
01:32Government has since abandoned the investigation into the Auditor General by the investigating committee.
01:38Today, Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan, who leads Ramdas' team of attorneys,
01:42says his client emerged victorious and succeeded in her journey for justice.
01:47He said she was fearful that this investigation could have been used to manufacture evidence against her
01:53to set up a case of misconduct and artificially justify attempts to hound her out of office, end quote.
02:01He further said, quote, she feared that the government wanted to get rid of her
02:04because she refused to compromise her professional ethics and principles, end quote.
02:10Ramlogan explained that before the general election,
02:13the government's lawyers had written to the Privy Council conceding it would pay her legal costs.
02:18And today, a consent order was entered before Madam Justice Joan Charles to give effect to this.
02:25Ramlogan said since the investigation was abandoned, there was nothing further to litigate
02:30and therefore Ramdas discontinued her claim as she was able to, quote, unquote,
02:35successfully defend the integrity and independence of her office.
02:40The senior counsel said his client, quote, pledges to continue to fearlessly protect
02:45and safeguard the independence and integrity of her office and to always act in the public interest, end quote.
02:53When contacted regarding the outcome of the matter, a cheney general, John Jeremy, said, quote,
02:59the previous administration's conduct towards the auditor general was disgraceful.
03:04The new government is committed to transparency and accountability and we truly regret that Ms. Ramdas endured such an ordeal over the last year, end quote.
03:15One former senator who spoke extensively on the matter when it first became public also weighed in.
03:21JNT Luchmedial says in light of the revelation by the new AG about the amount of legal bills outstanding,
03:27it is worth questioning the spending on matters such as this where ministers sought to attack independent institutions
03:36and then defend their wrongdoing.
03:39The unfortunate thing right now is that it is, again, the taxpayer that is left holding the bill
03:44that funded in with what appears to be a vendetta that he had against the auditor general.
03:50Luchmedial questioned how much the committee has been paid to date and labels this a victory,
03:57not just for Ramdas, but for the people of TNT.
04:01From the get-go of this matter, Ms. Jaywanti Ramdas, the auditor general,
04:06has faced some unrelenting attacks against her.
04:10Firstly, in the form of, I think, a pre-action protocol letter,
04:14then what I believe to be very unfair personal statements made about her in the parliament,
04:19and then, you know, this hand-picked committee, hand-picked by Imbert,
04:23appointed by Imbert to report to Imbert on certain matters, including her conduct.
04:29To me, that was a very thinly veiled attempt to further intimidate her
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