Appeal Court denies mechanic's appeal to Privy Council

A mechanic who sought compensation from a fireman and his insurance company for injuries to his eyes in an accident in 2017 will have to approach the Privy Council directly for special leave after the Court of Appeal denied his application for conditional leave.

On Friday, Justices Mira Dean-Armorer, Vasheist Kokaram and Malcolm Holdip dismissed Lutchman Ramcharan’s application to appeal to the Privy Council.

The judges said Ramcharan’s appeal raised no genuinely disputable issue and pointed out that the Privy Council has frowned on challenges to concurrent findings of facts.

The Privy Council has repeatedly held that the third time is not the charm and will only, in exceptional cases, entertain appeals against concurrent findings of fact made by the courts below.

In 2018, Justice David Harris dismissed Ramcharan’s lawsuit, and the Court of Appeal did the same in November.

Ramcharan was a passenger in Vijay Mohan’s vehicle on January 27, 2017, when it was hit by another vehicle on the Toco main road at about 8 pm.

The side view mirror on the driver’s side shattered, and shards of glass lodged in Ramcharan’s face.

He claimed Mohan was driving too fast and too close to the middle of the road. Neither Ramcharan, his witness, nor Mohan could remember if there was a white line, but the fireman said he tried to take evasive action to avoid the oncoming vehicle that veered into his path.

Mohan said he was in the centre of his lane and was blinded by the lights of the oncoming vehicle. He said to avoid a crash, he swerved to his extreme left.

The other vehicle hit his wing mirror but did not stop.

In dismissing Ramcharan’s lawsuit, Harris said while there was a duty of care towards Ramcharan, as a passenger in Mohan’s vehicle, the evidence did not prove that he breached that duty.

Harris also said Ramcharan’s evidence was bereft of detail and failed to prove that Mohan was liable for his injuries.

Ramcharan was represented by attorney Yaseen Ahmed while Michael Rooplal represented Mohan and his insurer Bankers Insurance Company TT Ltd.