GCB officials back in court, returns tomorrow as saga continues

Mar 01, 2012 Sports

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Yesterday morning lawyers for the Guyana Cricket Board appeared before Chief Justice Ian Chang at the

High Court, Avenue of Republic, Charlotte Street, to answer an injunction granted to Attorney General (AG) and Ministry of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, earlier this month.
The injunction sought among other things to have the officers of the GCB to cease to present themselves as officers of the Guyana Cricket Board.
GCB Secretary Anand Sanasie, accompanied by Attorney Roysdale Forde, as well as another GCB executive, Robin Singh, was the only injuncted GCB member appearing in the court.
Sanasie and Forde appeared before Justice Chang to challenge the two court Orders granted to the Attorney General Anil Nandlall that permitted searches of their premises and or offices.
The two court orders contained in the Interim Injunction allowed for  the search of the premises of four officers (Chetram Singh, Lionel Jaikarran, Ramsay Ali and Anand Sanasie) of GCB.
Lawyer for the defendants, Roysdale Forde, explained that the matter is returnable on Friday (March 2), when the defendants will file a defence.
Forde explained Anand Sanasie’s solitary presence in the court, as one of the individuals on which the injunction allowed searches of property, was because Nandlall (plaintiff) has not been able to serve all of the defendants.
“As far as I am aware, the Attorney General has not been able to effect service on all of the defendants

and up to yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) he was still seeking to effect service on some of the defendants.”
Forde, who will be representing the four GCB defendants, stated that the court indicated that it is prepared to resolve that matter in the shortest period.
Questioning the GCB lawyer about the term, ‘royal proactive’, Forde said that term meant power which is vested in the Monarch or the Queen of the United Kingdom. Those powers are special powers which exist separately and apart from any specific law, providing for them and exist in common law. (It is on that basis that the Attorney General is saying that those powers are still applicable in Guyana).
In England, it is a constitutional convention (custom or practice) that certain powers which existed in England that are vested in the Monarch are saved and transferred and vested in the state subject to the constitution (from colonial state to independent state).
The lawyer declared that the fundamental issue is left for the court to determine whether those powers still exist at all in the context of Guyana’s system.
Sanasie said that the whole matter started because there are a group of individuals aligned with some officers of the Government who want to take over cricket and do it through the back door and not through

the legitimate process.
He added that the Government appointed Interim Management Committee (IMC) has taken the place of the GCB and that is just one of the processes of how the Government will be taking control of the assets and funds of GCB.
Cricket Operations Manager (COM), Robin Singh, said that the GCB is effectively shut down since the court orders barred the executive members from holding the,selves to be officers of the GCB.
“Having been barred as the executive, this effectively shuts the Guyana Cricket Board down because the staff cannot function if the executive does not function. The staff is not an independent situation; all expenditures must be approved and signed by the executive. Guyana Cricket Board is effectively shutdown, we are home and we are waiting to see what the court will decide.”
According to Singh, President Donald Ramotar, is exercising a Royal Prerogative. “I am not sure if that exists,” he said.
Sport will suffer in the long run once the matter is addressed in a slothful manner, he added.
Singh is of the belief that nation’s people do not care about Cricket. “I do not know if the decision will be devastating. I did not see anyone in the country, and I know the people affected directly are hurting but they are not speaking out.
“I know when the Australian Tour was cancelled. I did not hear anyone or Hotel owners complaining that they are losing business; I did not see any scorers protesting, so maybe they don’t care. Either the people of Guyana care about seeing Cricket in Guyana again or they can watch it been destroyed.”
With the lack of knowledge or expertise in sports, it is already at a critical stage and with a Government run board it will be counterproductive to everything.
Chetram Singh and Lionel Jaikarran, two trustees of the GCB named in the court document, have resigned their post following in the steps of board President Ramsay Ali who resigned Tuesday.

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