Rice miller in $99 M lawsuit loses bid for special leave before CCJ

Jul 14, 2019 News

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on Thursday dismissed an application for special leave, submitted by rice Miller, Arnold Sankar, to appeal a decision made by the Court of Appeal of Guyana.
The CCJ agreed with the Court of Appeal that the Guyana Rice Development board, the respondent in the case, should be granted an extension of time to seek leave to appeal, and leave to appeal the decision of the Full Court.
This matter goes back to 2016, when Mr Sankar sought damages in the amount of $99 million, for an alleged breach of contract by the board arising out of the purchase and sale of rice paddy.
The board’s case before Justice Diana Insanally was plagued by delays and procedural difficulties, but eventually the judge gave the Board an extension of time for the filing of its defence.
Mr. Sankar successfully appealed to the Full Court which granted him judgment.
The board’s appeal to the Court of Appeal was again marred by delays and procedural glitches, but the Court of Appeal agreed to give the Board an extension of time. The CCJ acknowledged that the Court of Appeal of Guyana had done the right thing.
The CCJ held that the Court of Appeal had the power to extend time in the interest of justice and found that those decisions best served the interests of justice.
The CCJ found that in “arriving at a determination as to what was required in the interests of justice, a court should balance the interests of the dissatisfied litigant who wished to pursue a right of appeal, on the one hand, with the interests of the successful litigant who wished to have the satisfaction of the judgment in his favour without undue delay.”
The CCJ also agreed with the Board that several issues raised by their counsel, Mr. Timothy Jonas, required the consideration of the Court of Appeal of Guyana.
The CCJ therefore dismissed Mr. Sankar’s application for special leave but ordered that each party bear their own costs of the appeal.
The appeal was dismissed in a four to one majority decision. Attorney-at-Law Anil Nandlall, had moved to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) where he is seeking special leave to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, to extend time to file the appeal.
He is also seeking leave to appeal on the basis that the delay at the lower courts was excessive.
The lawsuit was filed by Nandlall and Associates on behalf of Sankar of Arnold Sankar and Sons Rice Mills of Airy Hall Essequibo Coast.
According to information, the milling company entered into an agreement with GRDB, which requested the company to purchase as much paddy available on the market at a price between $3,000 and $3,300 per bag.
GRDB had allegedly promised and agreed that it would purchase the paddy from the company at a price of US$490 per metric tonne.
But GRDB is said to have failed to deliver on its promise, resulting in the milling company filing action in the High Court.
In July 2017, High Court Judge Diana Insanally refused to grant judgment in the sum of $99,670,273 to the milling company after it requested that the matter be completed on the basis of a late defence filed by lawyers representing the State entity.
Sankar, being dissatisfied with the decision appealed to the Full Court of the High Court before Justices Jo-Ann Barlow and Simone Morris-Ramlall who ruled that Justice Insanally ought to have awarded judgment at that point as she would have become duty-bound to do.
The Full Court granted judgment to Sankar to the tune of $99,670,273, which allegedly amounted to monies he lost as a result of the breach in the paddy supply deal.

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Rice miller in $99 M lawsuit loses bid for special leave before CCJ

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