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VP Jagdeo dodges Court Marshals to avoid being served libel suit
Kaieteur News – Court Marshals have been finding it difficult to serve a libel suit filed by former Auditor General (AG), Anand Goolsarran against Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo. The Marshals have attempted to serve the Vice President on at least three occasions.
Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo
The Statement of Claim was filed on September 22, 2023.
Kaieteur News understands that on September 25, 2023 Goolsarran, accompanied by a Marshal, attempted to serve the writ on Jagdeo at Freedom House around 9:30 a.m. but they were told that he was not there.
The duo then visited the Office of the President where they were informed that the Vice President was not there.
On September 27, 2023, Goolsarran and a Court Marshal returned to Freedom House with the intention of serving Jagdeo but he was not there. The duo also visited Jagdeo’s Goedverwagting, East Coast Demerara (ECD) home and was told he was asleep and could not be disturbed.
On September 29, 2023 at 1:30pm, Goolsarran and the Court Marshal visited Freedom House where they were told that he was not there. Thereafter, they visited the Office of the President where a guard on duty contacted Jagdeo’s secretary. The Marshall spoke with the Secretary, who enquired whether the visit was in relation to the “Goolsarran matter.”
The Marshal made it clear that she was not in a position to discuss the matter and it was then that the secretary told the Marshal that Jagdeo was not at the office.
According to Court documents seen by Kaieteur News, Goolsarran is seeking $30 million for defamatory statements made against him by the VP at a press conference held at the People’s Progressive Party Headquarters at Freedom House, Robb Street, Georgetown on 23 March, 2023 and during a public rally held at Port Mourant, on March 26, 2023.
Former Auditor General, Anand Goolsarran
According to the court document, at a press conference on 23 March, 2023 Jagdeo made statements which were aimed at tarnishing Goolsarran’s good name. The Vice President said that Goolsarran served as Auditor General for most of the ten-year period where no audited accounts for the country were present pre-1992.
The former AG believes that Jagdeo knew and intended to utter the words.
As a result of the Vice President’s utterances, the former AG is seeking a permanent injunction restraining Jagdeo from repeating the defamatory statements or printing, publishing or causing to be printed the said statements or similar defamatory statements.
Goolsarran is also seeking exemplary and aggravated damages; interest on all damages awarded pursuant to Section 12 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act Cap: 6:02.
In the document, Goolsarran pointed out that he is a former Auditor General of Guyana who was appointed on 31 December, 1990 and retired at the end of December 2004, having faithfully served the country for 14 years.
Added to this, during the period August 2002 to August 2004, Goolsarran served as Chief Resident Auditor at the United Nations Peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone and Liberia before returning to Guyana to resume duties as Auditor General.
The former Auditor General also listed several of his academic qualifications including that he is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in the United Kingdom. He is a British Chevening Scholar with a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland.
Goolsarran also holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the Robert Kennedy College in Switzerland, and a Master of International Business Law (LLM/IBL) from the University of Cumbria in the United Kingdom.
He is also the author of several publications including ‘Triumph of Democracy: The Guyana 2020 Elections and Their Aftermath, Guyana National Printers Ltd. (2021)’; ‘Governance, Transparency and Accountability, APH Publishing Corporation (2016)’; ‘Public Accountability at the Crossroads: The Guyana Experience, APH Publishing Corporation (2015); Improving Public Accountability: The Guyana Experience 1985 – 2007, Outskirts Press (2010)’.
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