Rambharat given new deadline to respond to Dulalchan

JADA LOUTOO

AGRICULTURE Minister Clarence Rambharat is being accused of “belatedly attempting to concoct” a report to justify the termination of acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Deodat Dulalchan’s licence to occupy state agricultural lands in Felicity.

Dulalchan’s attorneys again wrote the minister yesterday after he failed to respond to their pre-action protocol letter sent earlier this week.

The minister was given until 4 pm Wednesday to respond to the letter and to provide a copy of the report which was used as the basis for the termination of Dulalchan’s licence and which was sent to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

In yesterday’s letter, one of Dulalchan’s attorneys, Kiel Tacklalsingh, said it was “passing strange” that despite the request for the report, which he said the minister touted as being in the public domain, Rambharat was unwilling to provide them with a copy.

He said the only reasonable inference that could be derived from the minister’s sudden reticence was that “there is no report and no investigation was done.”

Tacklalsingh said it could also be inferred that the conclusions of the report were contrived and the only reason for it was to derail Dulalchan’s prospects of being appointed commission.

The lawyer accused the minister of belatedly attempting to concoct a report. He urged the minister to respond to his client’s letters, even if it was to ask for additional time.

He said if the minister fail’s to provide the report and other information as requested, Dulalchan will have no choice “but to vindicate his reputation” by taking further legal action “to preserve his rights to the parcel of land and protect his well-deserved opportunity to be appointed as the Commissioner of Police.”

In the pre-action protocol letter, Dulalchan strenuously denied any involvement in land grabbing and says he has a legal and bona fide licence to cultivate the land in Felicity.

Last week, Rambharat said he had instructed that the “grant” of land in Felicity to Dulalchan by letter should be terminated.

Three people have also been suspended pending an investigation by the Public Service Commission into the issue – Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Angela Siew, Commissioner of State Lands Paula Drakes and the Deputy Commissioner of State Lands Bhanmatie Seecharan.

However, Dulalchan – who is the Police Service Commission’s top pick for the post of Commissioner – said he was the beneficiary of a bona fide and legally effectual licence and was not given an opportunity to be heard by the minister before the decision was made to terminate the licence.