BARATARIA/San Juan MP Saddam Hosein has called for information on the legal fees paid to attorneys who represented the Finance Minister Colm Imbert and the Cabinet before the Privy Council in London, in a matter against Auditor General Jaiwantie Ramdass.
He made this call at a news conference in Chaguanas on November 10.
Hosein supported a recent statement by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar that the appeal before the Privy Council was a waste of taxpayers's money.
He said the legal fees paid to the attorneys who represented Imbert and the Cabinet should be disclosed.
The attorneys were Douglas Mendes, SC, Michael Quamina, SC, and Simon de la Bastide, SC.
Hosein repeated UNC claims about Imbert intimidating Ramdass and no light being shed on matters fundamental to this case.
On November 7, the Privy Council dismissed the appeal by Imbert and the Cabinet against the judicial permission given to Ramdass to pursue her lawsuit challenging a state-ordered probe of her approach to auditing the 2023 public accounts.
Five Privy Council law lords gave their immediate decision on Imbert's challenge of the reversal of the premature dismissal of her lawsuit.
Two hours into submissions by Mendes, the State’s lead attorney, the law lords took a break and returned about ten minutes later with their decision, without hearing from Ramdass’ attorneys.
They said given the importance of the matter, they were prepared to state the outcome of the appeal and give reasons afterwards.
Lord Hodge said after he and his colleagues returned, "The test for arguability is low and as Mr Mendes recognised, he needed a knockout blow to show that the Court of Appeal was plainly wrong in making its decision.
“The board was not satisfied that has been shown…Leave was granted on the pleaded grounds and the question of arguability will be heard if the judicial review proceeds on the merits.
“Therefore, the Court of Appeal’s order will stand, and as I say, the board will state its reasons as soon as is practicable.”
The dispute between Ramdass and Imbert began in April, after the ministry sought to deliver amended public accounts to explain and rectify an error in which government revenue was understated to the original sum of $3.4 billion, and subsequently to $2.6 billion.
The statutory deadline to provide the accounts was January 31. Ramdass was given the first set of accounts for 2023, which was audited but not yet submitted, when the ministry told her the first accounts had been understated by $2.6 billion.
By statute, the Auditor General has to audit annually the public accounts provided by the ministry.
On April 15, the ministry sent new accounts, which had allegedly been backdated and contained a significantly higher statement of revenue.
Ramdass initially refused to accept the second set of accounts, arguing her office had completed the audit, but relented after legal action was threatened.
In her legal challenge, she claims she was bullied into accepting the second set of accounts.
Ramdass’s office
