T&T: Nobody's above the law

FORMER Prime Minister Basdeo Panday lost his constitutional motion yesterday in which he was asking the court to stay his trial on charges of failing to declare his London bank account to the Integrity Commission. Madame Justice Maureen Rajnauth-Lee, presiding in the Port-of-Spain Fifth Civil Court, dismissed Panday’s motion and ordered that he pay costs to the Attorney General. The judge dismissed all four grounds raised by Panday, clearing the way for Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls to proceed with the summary court trial on March 22. She said that although the Integrity in Public Life Act 1987 was repealed, the matter was alive and legal proceedings against Panday could continue.

This is excellent. It sends a cautionary message to all politicians in T&T.