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
04:34and perhaps hound her out of office.
04:37Urvishit Tawwari, Rubnarain, TV6 News.
Comments