By Indarjit Seuraj Friday, October 23 2009

Former prime minister Basdeo Panday is expected to go before the Court of Appeal after his lawsuit challenging the decision of Magistrate Ejenny Espinet not to recuse herself from the preliminary inquiry into bribery charges against him was yesterday dismissed by a High Court judge.

Justice Vasheist Kokaram dismissed the application clearing the way for the completion of the preliminary inquiry which has been stalled since July 22, 2008 when Panday and his wife Oma were granted leave to challenge the magistrate’s ruling. Immediately after the ruling, lawyers for the Opposition Leader asked for a stay in the preliminary inquiry until the filing of an appeal. The application for judicial review was filed when, in February 2007, Espinet refused to step down from hearing the inquiry against the Pandays who are charged alongside former government minister Carlos John and businessman Ishwar Galbaransingh with offences relating to a £25,000 bribe.

On that application brought before the court, the Pandays claimed they were facing an unfair hearing and had alleged that Espinet was a trustee on the board of the Morris Marshall Foundation, based in Laventille, which is named after the late PNM MP. Attorneys for the Pandays also argued that Espinet’s father —Alexander Chamberlain Alexis — was twice a government minister and parliamentary secretary under the PNM administration.

In his oral judgment yesterday, Kokaram said the “missing link” in the application was whether the Morris Marshall Foundation furthered the political cause of the PNM. He noted the allegations against Espinet were unfounded as she lived with her mother and was supported by her step-father for most of her childhood.

“There was no intimate sharing of political stories,” Kokaram said. The “political affiliation” of Alexis was unknown since 1976, the judge added.

And while attorneys for both sides based their arguments on the “fair minded observer’s” consideration of the perception of bias, Kokaram based his ruling on the perception of the “man of the Brian Lara Promenade.”

“I turned to the man of the Brian Lara Promenade to ask him whether he thought there was apparent bias,” he said.

Attorneys for both sides are expected to return before Kokaram on Tuesday to argue for costs. The Pandays are before Espinet accused of receiving a £25,000 (TT$290,000) bribe from John and Galbaransingh to favour the latter’s construction company for work on the Piarco Airport project.