Jagdeo accuses Nandlall of misleading him about filing of defence in libel case
In his appeal, Mr. Jagdeo is contending that he requested information from his former Attorney about the case on a number of occasions and was assured that the defence was filed.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo through his new Attorney Devindra Kissoon, has moved to appeal the $20 million libel judgment against him and he is accusing his former Attorney Anil Nandlall, of misleading him about the filing of the defence in the original case. Nandlall is now the Attorney General of Guyana.
Three weeks ago, the High Court in a default judgment ruled against Mr. Jagdeo in the libel case after he failed to file a defence.
The libel case was filed by Opposition Member of Parliament Annette Ferguson who was a Government Minister at the time.
In his appeal, Mr. Jagdeo is contending that he requested information from his former Attorney about the case on a number of occasions and was assured that the defence was filed.
“At all times during February 2020 and beyond, I diligently and promptly enquired of Mr. Nandlall of the status of the matter, and was advised by him that the defence was filed, that the matter had not yet ben fixed for case management”, Jagdeo told the Court in his new affidavit.
He further contends that “I made several enquiries about the filing of a defence, and at all times was under the mistaken impression that the matter had been attended to. I had no reason to believe otherwise and had I known that the defence was not filed, I would have immediately taken steps to ensure that the proper application was made to the Court”.
In the absence of the defence being filed in the matter, the Attorney for Ms. Ferguson, Lyndon Amsterdam, sought and got the Court to make the default judgment.
In a Facebook post since the judgment, Mr. Nandlall is blaming the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 elections for his failure as Mr. Jagdeo’s Attorney to file the defence in the matter.
“The Elections were then marred by a series of ensuing unforeseen and unprecedented actions, including, a series of litigation, a national recount, and then even more litigation, until the results were finally declared on August 2nd, 2020. Significantly, in March 2020, Guyana was hit with the Covid-19 pandemic which caused the Judiciary to close operations for a period, barring election-related litigation. In consequence, the Supreme Court Registry was closed and Lawyers were advised to close their offices. The aforesaid exceptional circumstances contributed to the error of the non-filing of the Defense not being detected”, Senior Counsel Nandlall stated on his Facebook page.
In the appeal, the Vice President is asking the Court to set aside the $20 million judgment against him, pointing out that he should not be punished for the “inadvertence” of his former Attorney’s Law Office.
He complained to the Court that if the $20 million judgement is not set aside, it would cause him “irreparable damage”.
Mr. Jagdeo also wants the Court to address his appeal speedily since he is concerned that Ms. Ferguson may seek to enforce the judgment at anytime, “rendering the instant application moot”.
Jagdeo also wants the Court to accept his defence at this time since he believes he has good prospects of winning the case.
Ferguson had filed the lawsuit against Jagdeo and the Guyana Times while he was Opposition Leader and she was a Government Minister.
The lawsuit stemmed from statements Jagdeo made in the media about Ferguson’s acquisition of land and construction of her house.
Her Attorneys had maintained that the statements were reckless, libelous and were designed to damage her character.
In the ruling, High Court Judge Sandra Kurtzious ordered that failure by the defendant to comply with the decision of the Court would see him being held in contempt of the Court’s orders and facing prison time or confiscation of assets.
The case was filed in January 2020 and referenced the statements that were made by Mr. Jagdeo in December 2019.
