High Court quashes Magistrate’s decision to dismiss charges against fraudster

The Demerara High Court has overturned a controversial decision by Magistrate Delon Bess, who had dismissed three criminal matters against convicted fraudster, Dave Rajeshwar Persaud. On Tuesday, Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) said that acting Chief Justice (ag) Justice Navindra Singh on Monday granted judicial review orders for constitutional relief to SOCU, including declarations and an order of certiorari, quashing the decision of Magistrate Delon Bess.

According to SOCU, the matters, which were pending in the Diamond Magistrate’s Court, were thrown out even though, according to prosecutors, “his Court-assigned Clerk had communicated and/or informed SOCU Prosecutors that said matters were adjourned to June 27, 2025, at 9:00 am.”
SOCU prosecutors explained that on the morning of May 29, at 06:39h, they received a WhatsApp message from the Court-assigned clerk of the Diamond Magistrate’s Court requesting that an adjournment date be suggested by the prosecution since Magistrate Bess was scheduled to sit at the Leguan Magistrate Court instead of the Diamond Magistrate Court on that date. SOCU said their prosecutors suggested June 27 as an alternative date for the continuation of the trial, and the Court-assigned Clerk agreed.” However, on June 27, prosecutors said that “after sitting for more than three hours for the matters to be called in the Diamond Magistrate Court, they enquired about the status of the matters. It was at that time that they were informed by Magistrate Bess that on the morning of May 29, 2025, Magistrate Bess had joined the Diamond Court Zoom whilst sitting at Leguan Magistrate Court to deal with the matters of Dave Rajeshwar Persaud, who was present on the Zoom platform from Lusignan prison, but that there was no representative of SOCU on the Zoom platform. Accordingly, Magistrate Bess dismissed the matters.” SOCU challenged the decision, arguing that the Magistrate acted “illegally, irrationally, arbitrarily, exercised his discretion wrongly, failed to satisfy or observe conditions or procedures required by law, and breached the principles of natural justice by dismissing the criminal charges.”
Justice Singh agreed, ruling that the Magistrate’s decision to determine the matters in a different magisterial district was wholly improper and that, in any regard, the sitting Magistrate, at a minimum, ought to have enquired from his court-assigned clerk about the absence of the Prosecution before dismissing the matters.

As a result, the Court granted SOCU’s application for judicial review and ordered that Magistrate Bess’s decision to dismiss the three criminal matters in the Diamond Magistrate Court whilst sitting in the Leguan Magistrate Court be quashed.
SOCU’s head, Deputy Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, emphasised the seriousness of the ruling, saying: “It is unfortunate that SOCU had to resort to court action to ensure compliance of the Magistrate since Magistrates are creatures of statute and cannot arbitrarily and without jurisdiction make pronouncements which are contrary to the law and rules governing the administration of justice.”
He further stressed that state agencies are accountable to the public in the administration of justice, since justice must not only be done but it must appear to have been done, not only on the part of an accused person but on the part of the victim also.