00:00Businessman Emil Elias and his company NH International have been ordered to pay full legal costs after their defamation lawsuit
00:09against Energy Minister Dr. Rudal Munilal was dismissed.
00:14The ruling was delivered on Monday by High Court Judge Justice Joan Charles, who found that Munilal's statement made during
00:22a 2016 political meeting were made in the public interest and did not amount to defamation.
00:28Elias had sued over comments in which Munilal questioned the award of a $145 million housing development cooperation contract to
00:39NH Limited, suggesting bid rigging and irregularities in the tendering process.
00:45In its decision, the court found that Munilal's statements were grounded in an initial HDC valuation report, which ranked NH
00:53International sixth and indicated it did not meet initial project requirements.
00:58During the trial, PricewaterhouseCooper's executive Zia Patton testified but acknowledged under cross-examination that NH's bid raised significant concerns.
01:12She admitted the company requested a government guarantee despite the request for proposals stating none would be provided and did
01:20not indicate financing costs in its submission.
01:23Patton also agreed that allowing such a bid could be unfair to other bidders.
01:29This qualification was one of the options available to the HDC.
01:33The court noted that there was no clear explanation as to how NH International advanced in the process despite these
01:42issues, describing aspects of the evaluation as irregular.
01:46Justice Charles also dismissed a related claim brought by Elias against Radio Vision Limited, awarding costs in that matter as
01:56well.
01:56However, the court appealed part of a separate claim against the Trinidad Express, awarding damages and half of the company's
02:04legal costs to Elias.
02:06Munilal was represented by senior counsel Anand Ramlogan and a legal team from Freedom Law Chapmans.
02:12Following the ruling, Munilal described the decision as a victory for transparency and freedom of expression, saying it affirmed the
02:21public's right to scrutinize the award of state contracts.
02:25The matter stems from a 2018 lawsuit filed over statements made two years earlier bringing an end to a legal
02:33battle that spanned nearly eight years.
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