Author:
Publication:
Date:
The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha was today victorious
in its appeal to the Privy Council against the government because of its consistent
refusal to award the organization a radio licence.
In a landmark 19-page judgment Lord Mance
said 'in light of the exceptional circumstances' of the discrimination the
Privy Council would order Attorney General John Jeremie to do all that is
necessary to ensure that a licence is issued forthwith to the Hindu organization.
The State was also ordered to pay the Maha Sabha's legal costs in all the
courts.
The judgment was a unanimous one as the other
law lords agreed with the judgment delivered by Lord Mance. The other law
lords were Lords Hoffman, Hope, Hutton and Brown. In addition to confirming
the finding of discrimination, the court also held that the Maha Sabha's constitutional
right to freedom of expression was also violated. It found that there had
been a conspicuous failure to deal with the Maha Sabha's application for over
three years and ruled that there was 'unexplained and unjustified discrimination
in favour of Louis Lee Sing's Citadel.'
The court noted that the Maha Sabha's application
had been approved since the 1st September 2000 and found that no explanation
was given for the sudden award of a radio licence to Louis Lee Sing's Citadel
Limited which now operates the I 95 radio frequency. Former Minister of Science
and Technology Hedwidge Bereaux told a media conference that Citadel had applied
for its licence on March 13th 2001 but the law lord said this could not be
correct because the Companies Register showed that Citadel was only incorporated
on the 28th August 2001 shortly before the last general election after the
18/18 tie.
The court cited a letter dated 18th July 2002
by Permanent Secretary Emmanuel George to Lee Sing, describing it as 'a vigorous
request' for an explanation from Lee Sing as to why he was applying for a
new radio station when it was clear that he was already operating 92.5 FM.
This frequency, as Mr George had noted, was not given to Lee Sing, but Trinidad
Broadcasting Systems Limited. The law lord noted that no explanation was given
by Lee Sing but he was nevertheless granted a new licence by the government.
The Court of Appeal had ordered the government
to consider the Maha Sabha's application within 28 days however, by letter
dated 17th May 2005 the Maha Sabha was informed, for the first time, that
Cabinet had long considered and refused its application since June 21st 2004
on the ground that it was incomplete.
The Privy Council described this as 'remarkable'
and said that the failure to disclose this fact misled the Court of Appeal
which proceeded to hear the case 'on a false premise'. The court said "The
letter discloses a situation in which the Court of Appeal was allowed to proceed
under a serious misapprehension in and throughout the course of two substantial
hearings. The Court of Appeal was twice allowed to give judgment on false
premises viz, that Cabinet had never considered the application, still less
reached any decision on it prior to the Court of Appeal's first judgment'.
The court commented that no explanation was
given as to why the State concealed these facts from the Court of Appeal 'although
it is obvious that one would be expected'. The State's lawyer described the
position as 'unusual and unsatisfactory' but the Privy Council said this was
'an understatement'.
The Maha Sabha was represented by Sir Fenton
Ramsahoye SC and Anand Ramlogan. The State was represented by Russel Martineau
SC in the Appeal Court and Peter Knox QC in the Privy Council.
