Repeated delays in prosecuting three men for allegedly committing fraud at the Licensing Division have led to them being freed.
Temporary clerk Sudesh Radhakissoon, 49-year-old motor vehicle inspector Errol Supersad, and 51-year-old computer technician Adrian Mohammed were discharged by Master Adia Mohammed (no relation) yesterday after she refused to grant another adjournment of the case requested by prosecutors.
The trio was charged in October 2023 following a report from a member of the public, who discovered that his Nissan Navara was transferred to someone else without his knowledge.
The report was initially received by the Transport Commissioner, who transferred it to the T&T Police Service (TTPS) Fraud Squad for a criminal probe.
Radhakissoon and Supersad, who was assigned to the Caroni Licensing Division, were charged with misbehaviour in public office, while Mohammed was slapped with two charges for uttering forged documents.
All three were before the Port-of-Spain Magistrate’s Court before their case was transferred to the High Court based on the provisions of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act (AJIPA).
The legislation sought to reduce protracted delays in the criminal justice system by abolishing lengthy preliminary enquiries before magistrates by replacing them with quicker sufficiency hearings before High Court Masters.
The sufficiency hearing was scheduled to commence on June 10 but was postponed by Master Mohammed after prosecutors indicated they were not ready to proceed.
When the case was recalled three days later, prosecutors did not attend the hearing and the trio’s lawyers requested that the case be dismissed against them.
Master Mohammed declined as she adjourned the case to this week to give prosecutors a final opportunity to comply.
Prosecutors were again absent when the case was called on Tuesday.
When they did arrive at the court, they requested yet another adjournment but were refused.
Supersad’s lawyer Renuka Rambhajan, who was a senior State prosecutor before going into private practice, suggested that the conduct of the prosecutors in the case demonstrated a misuse of the AJIPA provisions.
“Although the legislation allowed cases to be transferred from the Magistrate’s Court to the Master’s Court, giving parties more time to prepare, the prosecution still failed to comply,” Rambhajan said.
She said that her client had been waiting eagerly for two years for the case to commence so that he could seek to clear his name.
Radhakissoon was represented by Russell Warner, while Michael Rooplal and Vishan Girwar represented Adrian Mohammed.