Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, would have stunned citizens yesterday when he discontinued the prosecution of former prime minister Basdeo Panday, his wife Oma, former government minister Carlos John and businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh on corruption charges related to the construction of the Piarco International Airport.
The decision, announced before Magistrate Adia Mohammed, would have surprised many given the ramifications of this case and three other matters related to corruption allegations swirling around the procurement of contracts for the construction of the Piarco International Airport dating back to early 2000s.
Naturally, law-abiding citizens would be disheartened to see once again that government officials named in alleged corrupt practices with other parties during their tenures in office are not being called to account for their alleged actions, if indeed the T&T Police Service and the Office of the DPP had strong cases against them.
More significantly, however, is DPP Gaspard’s admittance that once again, the discontinuation had more to do with the length of time the case winded itself through the court. Critically, DPP Gaspard noted that at this stage, his office would have a minute chance of securing convictions due in part to the fact that key witnesses are no longer available due to death or migration and, more importantly, that the accused would have a fair chance of convincing the court that they were prejudiced in the case.
For the record, four separate cases were initiated against a group of individuals following an investigation by Canadian forensic investigator Robert Lindquist into the Piarco project.
In this particular case, referred to as Piarco Three, the Pandays were charged in 2005 with corruptly receiving £25,000; while Mr John and Mr Galbaransingh were charged with corruptly giving £25,000 to the couple as an inducement or reward in relation to the Piarco Airport expansion project.
Yet, there were signals even before yesterday that the case was doomed to failure as the accused challenged aspects at the preliminary inquiry stages.
Having said that, this particular matter once again exposes the fallout of the slow pace of T&T’s judicial system. Not for the first time, a case which cost taxpayers millions would have come to nought not only due to the incompetence of various arms of the state responsible for the investigation of the case but for prosecuting the matter through the courts and the slow manner in which justice is served in T&T. In fact, apart from DPP Gaspard’s reasoning for the discontinuance, it is also likely to have been impacted by key witnesses’ memory of what transpired almost two decades ago.
However, most disconcerting to citizens would have been that this case has again firmed up the continuing and growing view that justice is dispensed differently for the haves and the have-nots in this society.
With the more recent discontinuation of the corruption kickback case involving former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and former UNC senator Gerald Ramdeen last October fresh in the citizenry’s memory, however, it continues to be a sad reflection on T&T’s judicial system that cases critical to the country’s history fall apart and remain stains within the annals of law and order.