Court blanks Ramsaran director's call for details of forex allocations

THE HIGH COURT has dismissed a judicial review claim by a director of local beverage producer Ramsaran's Dairy Products (RDP) against the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance, on forex allocations over eight years.

Rajnanan Ramsaran had written to the ministry and the governor of the Central Bank in 2024, seeking documents relating to forex allocation policies, monitoring and reporting mechanisms, audit reports, historical data, total foreign exchange allocations to commercial banks from 2015 to 2023, and the actions of the Central Bank in response to customers denied forex.

Ramsaran, a founder of RDP, complained that foreign exchange in Trinidad and Tobago was not equally distributed and had sent freedom of information requests for the policy surrounding the distribution of foreign exchange.

He also wrote to the Auditor General and the International Monetary Fund, complaining about the lack of information on the distribution of foreign exchange, seeking their intervention.

Ramsaran, represented by attorney Richard Jaggasar, sought declarations and orders compelling the ministry to provide the information about foreign exchange allocation policies between 2015 and 2023. The ministry, represented by Senior Counsel Russell Martineau and others, maintained that no such documents existed and that Ramsaran had been informed of his right to appeal to the Ombudsman under Section 23(1)(e) of the Freedom of Information Act.

In her ruling, Justice Joan Charles dismissed Ramsaran’s judicial review claim, ruling that the ministry did not breach its statutory duties under the FOIA.

Charles found that the ministry acted within the law. She said a public authority cannot be compelled to create documents that do not exist. She ruled that the appropriate course for Ramsaran was to refer the matter to the Ombudsman, not the court.

While acknowledging the four-month delay in the ministry’s response, the judge deemed it reasonable given the scope of Ramsaran’s request, which spanned eight years and over 1,500 pages of records. The court noted that the ministry was also processing 30 other FOIA requests during the same period.

The judge also held that judicial review was not warranted once the ministry provided its response before the filing of the claim.

Charles concluded that the matter was academic, as the ministry had already replied before Ramsaran’s claim was filed. She dismissed Ramsaran’s claim and ordered each party to bear its own costs.

In his letter to the IMF, Ramsaran said there was an “extreme shortage of forex at the detriment of the business community.”

“From my perspective, there appears to be an unfair distribution of what little forex that is available, with no equality nor equity among the business community and by extension the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

“...The Ministry of Finance's assertion that the requested documents do not exist raises serious concerns about the governance framework and the corporate responsibility within TT's public financial institutions.”

Also appearing for the ministry’s PS were Amriah Rahaman and Lianne Thomas.