In his final case as an ordinary Appeal Court Judge, Chief Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, along with Appeal Court Judges Peter Rajkumar and James Aboud, allowed the appeal of NOVO Technology and ordered that the Airports Authority pay the legal costs of the matter.
Boodoosingh, who was not the president of the Appeal Court panel, was installed as Chief Justice hours after the matter was completed on Wednesday.
In the matter, the judges found merit in NOVO Technology’s case, which was brought by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, Kiel Taklalsingh, Leon Kalicharan, and Karina Singh. The Airports Authority of T&T was represented by Gregory Delzin, SC, and Sam Harrison.
NOVO Technology is seeking more than $50 million in damages for alleged breach of contract and non-payment for an automated border control system at the airport.
The Appeal panel reversed the decision of Justice Joan Charles, who dismissed NOVO’s second claim against the state agency, agreeing that it was not an abuse of process.
Novo Technology appealed the judge’s ruling, which found unanimous favour with Boodoosingh and the other Appeal Court judges.
The judges also ordered that rather than having two claims against the Airports Authority heard, the two should be merged and heard as one matter.
In May 2019, the then Cabinet appointed retired judge Rolston Nelson to investigate how the Airports Authority awarded a seven-year contract to NOVO Technology Ltd for the airport passport processing kiosks at the Piarco International Airport. The contract was awarded in December 2017 for US$42.8 million.
NOVO Technology initially sued the Airports Authority for US$5,838,616.08, which was to cover monies owed between the time the contract was signed to May 2019 and TT$319,363.61 for structured cabling. After the contract was terminated, the company brought a second lawsuit, which was what Charles ruled on.
The judges also ordered the Airports Authority pay NOVO’s legal costs. - Jensen La Vende
