Latest update January 17th, 2025 6:30 AM
Attorney General sues Stabroek News, Chris Ram for $20M
Attorney General, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, has sued the publisher of Stabroek News and chartered accountant, Christopher Ram, for in excess of $20M, over a letter published last month in that newspaper.
Attorney General,
Anil Nandlall
In his writ filed yesterday, Nandlall said that Ram via his letter of March 19, accused him of failing to properly advise President Donald Ramotar on the appointment of the Judicial Service Commission.
The AG said that he was accused of attempting to divert blame from himself by shifting it to the National Assembly and that he took this to mean that he was cavalier about the laws of Guyana; is unprofessional and incompetent; and unfit to hold the position of Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs.
The Minister made it clear that Ram and Stabroek News’s publisher, Guyana Publication Inc, could not have known about the nature of his advice to the President but yet proceeded to recklessly and libelously make public pronouncements, maligning and libeling himself in the letter as a result.
“The…publications were calculated to cause and did cause the plaintiff (Nandlall) public embarrassment, humiliation, ridicule, odium both nationally and internationally, both personally in his official and professional capacity…”
Nandlall said that he is an Attorney-at-Law duly admitted to practice law in the jurisdictions of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago; a member of the 10th Parliament; and the Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs. He is also the Principal Legal Advisor to the Government of Guyana; a member of the Cabinet of the Government of Guyana and a member of the Central Committee of the ruling People Progressive Party.
Nandlall said that his lawyer, Sase Gunraj, on the same day of the publication, had written Stabroek News, asking for a retraction and apology with the same prominence of the original piece.
Sued: Christopher Ram
However, the newspaper subsequently refused, saying that the letter “constitutes eminently fair comment on a matter of public interest in relation to a senior public official. There shall therefore be no retraction or apology by Stabroek News.”
Ram, also a lawyer, a business analyst and columnist, has his own commentary website as well.
Nandlall is claiming damages in excess of $10M for libel; an injunction restraining further publication and aggravated damages in excess of $10M and costs.
Nandlall has sued Kaieteur News too for a “Dem Boys Seh” column.
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