Conditions of employment must be respected – trade unionist
Law books vendetta
In the wake of former Attorney General Anil Nandlall’s arrest and indictment, a prominent local trade unionist is arguing that if he did receive the Commonwealth Law reports as a condition of employment, such a condition must be respected.
Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) President Komal Chand put forward this position, during an interview at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday. Chand noted the reports were that the law books Nandlall received were part of the arrangements of his employment and, as such, the Administration must respect the bargaining arrangement.
Asked whether anything constituting a contract existed to attest to this, Chand stated that that must be left to the court to determine. However, he correlated the books for which Nandlall was charged with other perks that Members of Parliament and Government Ministers receive.
“If, indeed it’s a condition of employment, then that’s it. If I’m going to take up this job, but (I say) you need to give me A, B or C for me to be able to do the job and to be updated with the (latest) court matters and court decisions, then that’s it,” Chand posited.
On the other side of the spectrum, Chand stated that if it was not a condition of employment, then the court had to pronounce on that.
“In that case, if the court doesn’t accept (Nandlall’s ownership of books), then I would say the natural thing is the books ought to be released by him and returned.”
Attorney-at-Law Euclin Gomes, a member of Nandlall’s legal team, also expressed support for the former Attorney General. He stated that the drive to prosecute Nandlall was a politically-motivated one.
“If you follow the sequence of events leading up to this charge, you cannot come to any other conclusion,” he said.
Nandlall was brought before the court by members of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) on Thursday afternoon and indicted for allegedly converting to his own use 14 law books the State claims he unlawfully retained after demitting office in 2015.
Nandlall was represented by a battery of Attorneys, including former Education Minister Priya Manickchand, Glenn Hanoman, Sase Gunraj, Euclin Gomes and Sanjeev Datadin. He appeared before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
The particulars of the charge are that, while being a bailee (custodian), Nandlall fraudulently converted 14 Commonwealth Law Reports valued at $2.3 million between May 15 and May 29, 2015.
Hanoman, the lead defence Attorney, argued for self-bail. He stated that Nandlall was a former Attorney General of Guyana and moreover, in 19 years of legal practice, he had never had an incident. He also referenced Nandlall’s address as his fixed place of abode.
It was also pointed out that the High Court had granted Nandlall a conservatory order only days before, preventing SOCU from seizing the law books.
State Prosecutor Patrice Henry did not object to Hanoman’s submission, and Nandlall was released on self-bail. He is scheduled to return to court on May 9.
While Nandlall has argued that the books were part of a negotiated arrangement he had with former President Donald Ramotar, the Government has held out that the State purchased the law books and his retention of them was against the law.
