DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, has responded in what appeared to be the latest tit-for-tat between his office and the Judiciary in the Dana Seetahal murder trial.
Yesterday, in a press release, Gaspard admitted to receiving the necessary documents to further the trial, but not in the format he required in keeping with the Indictable Offences (Preliminary Enquiry) Act, or IOPEA.
On the tenth anniversary of Senior Counsel Seetahal’s death, the DPP lamented that the Judiciary had not sent the completed committal proceedings to his office. The Judiciary responded by saying that they did send the 8,100-page document electronically.
It said: “The Judiciary wishes to correct the assertion.
“Due to its size, the committal bundle in the case of The State vs Rajaee Ali and others, which contains over 8,100 pages, was sent to the Office of the DPP via file transfer protocol (FTP) in three parts, on December 20, 2023, and January 5, 2024,” it added.
But now the DPP is saying he wants those documents in hard copy in compliance with the IOPEA.
“Sections 25 to 27 of the IOPEA do not contemplate the Director of Public Prosecutions filing a valid indictment on the basis of copies, whether electronic or otherwise,” DPP Gaspard said in a statement.
He explained, “The documents comprising more than 8,100 pages could surely have been more easily secured in a few bankers boxes and transmitted to this office in the three years and five months that it has taken to provide an electronic copy.”
Gaspard said he will need to have the original committal bundle to fulfil statutory duties under the IOPEA and to file a valid indictment since expediency is not a source of law.
The DPP said he has been trying since January 5 to have the original documents sent to his office. He said he’s now been told by the Judiciary the earliest the bundle can be delivered is May 20 this year.
On the eve of the tenth anniversary of Seetahal’s murder on Friday, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, claimed that his office was waiting for the Judiciary to send the committal bundle from the concluded preliminary inquiry in the case for indictments to be filed against the accused.
Gaspard’s claim about the issue was challenged by the Judiciary in a press release issued.