Imbert to appeal High Court judgments

FINANCE Minister Colm Imbert intends to appeal two recent High Court judgments which involved his ministry.

In a statement on Wednesday, Imbert said, “We respectfully disagree with the decisions of the first-instance judges. However, we are constrained in what can be said in relation to these matters as they are sub judice.”

The two judgments were those in favour of a now-retired assistant commissioner of the Board of Inland Revenue against the minister and ex-Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran against the State.

In the former, the judge presiding over the case, Justice Margaret Mohammed, held Imbert acted unlawfully and irrationally when he decided not to recommend Rohonie Ramkissoon to the position of commissioner of the BIR in 2021.

In the Rambarran matter, Justice Devindra Rampersad held his dismissal as governor on December 23, 2015, after acting president Christine Kangaloo revoked his appointment on the advice of the Cabinet, was also unlawful. Rambarran was awarded damages representing the salary he should have received from the date of his dismissal to July 16, 2017, when his tenure would have come to an end if he had not been unlawfully fired.

Damages were assessed at $$7,545,217.57. He will receive $5,470,055.28 after tax deductions. He will also receive $175,000 in vindicatory damages.

In his release, Imbert said the judicial system provides recourse to the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council to settle such legal disputes.

He also hinted that the rulings could be overturned at the Appeal Court.

“In many cases, our Court of Appeal overturns decisions made in the High Court and decisions in the High Court only stand if not appealed.

“We, therefore, await the outcome of our appeals," he said, adding, " It should also be noted that the Ministry of Finance has since September 2015 prevailed and been successful in the majority of matters heard and determined in our local courts.”

Imbert’s release was in response to an editorial in a daily newspaper on the Government’s mounting legal costs.

The Finance Ministry has allocated 7.9 billion in the 2023 budget for legal matters.