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If convicted, Nandlall must resign as MP, cannot run for presidency- Datadin
Should the State be successful with its case against former Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, the supreme law will force him to give up the seat that he currently holds as a Member of Parliament. Further, Nandlall would be disqualified from ever running as President of Guyana.
Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin
This was pointed out yesterday by prominent Attorney-at-law, Sanjeev Datadin.
Datadin said, “The simple truth is that if he is convicted, he cannot run. The Constitution states that one who has a conviction is not fit to be a Member of Parliament. The Constitution further states that anyone who is ineligible to be a Member of Parliament cannot be President.”
Datadin made note of the fact that Nandlall’s case is not at a stage where a decision as to conviction or not is likely to be made soon but said the fact that he was ordered to lead a defence speaks volume.
“There was a perception that the charges were frivolous and because of the perception, there was an expectation of a no case submission but the magistrate has gone past that. She said there is a charge to answer which would mean that there is some form of evidence and it must be at least prima facie evidence before the court…So now it seems as if the charges were not frivolous after all,” Datadin said.
Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandlall
Datadin noted that Nandlall was charged under Article 165 of the Criminal Law Offences Act and it carries a penalty of more than six months. “The constitution said that once the sentence is over six months, one is no longer eligible to be a Member of Parliament.”
Further, Datadin said that if Nandlall is convicted, even if there is an appeal, Nandlall would still not be eligible to compete as President of Guyana. “His name cannot even be on the list of candidates, so these charges are a really big deal for him. There are certain names in the media as to the presidential candidate for the PPP (People’s Progressive Party). If he is chosen, and God forbids, this goes against him then the party would be in a really embarrassing position.”
The learned attorney then made mention of the fact that Nandlall plans to appeal the Magistrate’s decision to have him lead a defence.
On his Facebook page yesterday, Nandlall said, “The learned Magistrate overruled the no-case submissions made by my lawyers in the law books case and called upon me to lead a defence. The submissions which were presented were prepared by a number of lawyers, including, two Senior Counsel.
“They were comprehensive but straightforward and, in my view, unassailable. The learned Magistrate was dissuaded. She simply overruled them in a one-sentence ruling. Her Worship provided no reasons for her decision. When probed by one of my lawyers for reasons, Her Worship still did not provide any.
“It is the view of my lawyers that the decision of the learned Magistrate is hopelessly wrong. They have advised me to move to the High Court to quash that decision. I have accepted that advice and will challenge the ruling of the learned Magistrate in the High Court.
“My lawyers have advised that they have appeared in many cases where the prosecution’s case was far stronger than in this case and the very Magistrate upheld no-case submissions in respect of those cases. In this case, they argued, that not only is the charge defective and a nullity, but that the evidence of the prosecution fell far short of proving a prima facie case.”
Datadin said that Nandlall’s move to the High Court may not prove to be of much value at this stage. He made mention of the fact that just recently, he was told by the Caribbean Court of Justice that “whatever challenges you have of this sort, you have to deal with it at the trial court, the magistrate. You cannot go to another court and quarrel about it.”
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