Court orders DCB elections

– main respondents to pay $200,000 in costs

Justice Navindra Singh on Thursday ordered that the Demerara Cricket Board (DCB) must hold elections no later than August 11, 2019 and that costs amounting to $200,000 be awarded against Anand Sanasie and Anand Kalladeen.
The DCB last held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on January 25, 2013, when office bearers were elected. However, certain individuals, led by Roger Harper, applied to the Court for a Declaration that that meeting was unlawful, null and void; and therefore, the persons elected as DCB executives, who hold office, were filled with nullity, since their term had ended on January 24, 2015, but they were still occupying office.
In addition, determination was sought on: whether the applicants had standing to institute this application; whether the last AGM of the DCB, wherein the office bearers were elected, was a nullity; whether the term of service of the office bearers elected at the last AGM held by the DCB had come to an end; and whether the court has jurisdiction to make the necessary orders applied for in this case.
The applicants in the case were: Roger Harper, Georgetown Cricket Association (GCA) President; Davteerth Anandjit, Secretary of the East Coast Cricket Board (ECCB); and Bradley Fredericks, President of the Upper Demerara Cricket Association (UDCA).
Kalladeen, President of the East Bank Demerara Cricket Association (EBDCA); Sanasie, President of the West Demerara Cricket Association and Vice-President of DCB; Raj Singh, President of DCB; Alfred Mentore, Ravindranauth Persaud, Sudesh Persaud, Lalta Digamber, Colin Europe, Rohan Sarjoo and Ray Persaud were among the respondents.
Mentore acted in his capacity as Vice President of DCB; Ravindranauth Persaud acted in his capacity as Secretary of the DCB; Sudesh Persaud acted in his capacity as Assistant Secretary of the DCB; Colin Europe acted in his capacity as Chairman of the DCB; Rohan Sarjoo acted in his capacity as Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the DCB; and Ray Persaud acted in his capacity as Marketing Manager of the DCB.
The applicants were represented by Arudranauth Gossai, while Roysdale Forde and Olayne Joseph represented the first and second respondents, Sanasie and Kalladeen. The other respondents, with the exception of Rohan Sarjoo, appeared at the court. Sarjoo agreed to abide by any order the court makes, while the first two respondents agreed otherwise.
Respondents Sanasie and Kalladeen contended that the applicants do not have standing to institute this application, but it was found that the respondents failed to establish that the GCA President had held his position for more than five successive terms, and that each of the applicants had standing to institute the application after the court had made the necessary findings.
In conclusion, the court ruled that there must be DCB elections no later than August 11, 2019, with the number of voting delegates to be in accordance with Article 15 Schedule II of the Guyana Cricket Administration Act.
The court also awarded costs to the applicants against the first and second named respondents in the sum of $200,000. (Brandon Corlette)