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Justice delayed is justice denied
DEAR EDITOR,
Justice requires that the court grants (or at least rules on) Mr. CN Sharma an order to resume broadcasting while the court addresses the legal challenge to the President’s suspension of the station from the air.
It is now more than three months since Sharma’s TV station was suspended off the air by President Jagdeo, acting in his capacity as Minister of Information, for a broadcasting infringement.
The judge noted on July 12 that the minister’s action can be challenged, since Jagdeo was not acting as President. So, the judge should now rule on the relief order.
As your paper reported, Sharma has sought a judicial order seeking immediate temporary relief from the Minister of Information’s action.
The judge has ordered several postponements, and went on vacation for two months, instead of acting expeditiously on the matter.
Right after Jagdeo ordered the station off the air, Sharma challenged the Minister of Information’s action and sought a court order to return to the status quo (allowing the station to return to the air) while the station makes its case for why Mr. Jagdeo had no right to suspend it from broadcasting. This kind of immediate relief is routinely granted by judges all over the world.
The judge promised a quick ruling on the request. It is now three months and the judge is not even close to rendering a decision on the relief order; he has not even addressed the actual case challenging the minister’s decision, which is a separate matter that may take years to resolve.
As I understand it, the first matter before the court is not whether Information Minister Jagdeo was right or wrong to suspend the station’s broadcasting licence.
The immediate matter before the court is a relief from the suspension until such time that the court could rule on the substantive issue.
Now, it appears that the minister’s suspension will run its course without any intervention from the court. This is a travesty of justice.
I was impressed with Justice Ramlall’s recent ruling against the President on a different matter, stating a judge cannot be Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Judiciary at the same time.
He has another opportunity to render yet another historic judgment — issue a relief order while Jagdeo is being challenged over his control of the media.
Justice Ramlall can consolidate his judicial independence by ruling on the temporary order. The judge needs to be reminded that justice delayed is justice denied.
Ravi Doobay
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