Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan has finally honoured the court judgment requiring that his Ministry pay over US$2,228,400 (GYD$466,348,855) to Trinidad construction company DIPCON. The sum represents monies owed to the entity for road works carried out under the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government. Guyana Standard was reliably informed that the Finance Ministry paid over the full sum to the entity in December 2019.
DIPCON, however, owes the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) $527, 846, 657, in taxes. GRA has since garnished the owed taxes from the judgment paid as it was deemed income for the purpose of taxation. In January 2015, Justice Rishi Persaud ordered that DIPCON recover the monies from government. But a dissatisfied Attorney General Basil Williams filed an appeal against that decision to the Court of Appeal. That court, however, dismissed the application as it was not filed within the required timeframe.
The Attorney General then sought redress at the CCJ; that court too struck out the belated appeal. In light of the foregoing, the judgment of Justice Persaud remained enforced but the monies were still not paid to the construction company. DIPCON then applied for, and was granted an Order of Mandamus by Chief Justice Roxanne George directing that the monies be made to DIPCON on or before January 15, 2019.
The monies were still not paid, and the company’s lawyer, Timothy Jonas, instituted contempt of court proceedings against the Finance Minister. Following a full hearing before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, the judge on June 24, last, held the Minister in contempt of court and ordered that he be imprisoned for 21 days if he fails to pay the monies to DIPCON on or before Monday, July 8, 2019. The Finance Minister applied to the Full Court for a stay of execution of the contempt order; but the application was denied.
The monies were still not paid by that date, and President David Granger issued a respite pardoning the minister from jail time. A High Court Judge on Tuesday, however, quashed the respite, deeming it unlawful, arbitrary and in excess of jurisdiction.
Among other things, the High Court judge held that the President’s issuance of a respite, “Perpetuates the default of the State of its obligations under the Orders by the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)”; and facilitates the continued deprivation of the fruits of the judgment, whilst leaving the successful litigant [DIPCON] without any remedy or means to collect its lawful debt.”
Now that the respite has been struck down, it technically leaves Minister Jordan exposed to imprisonment for being held in contempt of an Order of the Court.
