Preliminary charges dropped against Navin Ramgoolam

Magistrate Adila Hamuth, sitting at the District Court of Port Louis, has struck off the three provisional charges of “public official using his office for gratification” held against former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam on Thursday. The case concerns the allocation of state land. In Court, the representative of the DPP’s Office, Joanne Moutou-Leckning, said: “The evidence borne out by enquiry fall short of establishing an offence under section 7 of PoCA [Prevention of Corruption Act] nor does it disclose any other criminal offence. In these circumstances and after careful consideration of all aspects of the cases, the DPP has decided not to institute criminal proceedings in relation to these three cases.” Regarding the other provisional accusations against Navin Ramgoolam namely in the Betamax and the Bramer House cases, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will communicate his stance on August 12.