Putting everything at stake

This week was marked by the hearing of the appeal of Mr. Pravind Jugnauth against the judgment of Magistrates Miss Niroshini Ramsoondar and Mr. Azam Neerooa, sitting at the Intermediate Court, and delivered on 30 June last. In this judgment, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth was found guilty for conflict of interest, in the allocation of funds (Rs 144,7 million) for the purchase of the former MedPoint Clinic by the government. In their judgment, the learned magistrates clearly underlined that “The issue is not one of conflict of interest arising in respect of the selection of MedPoint Ltd as being the site for the National Geriatric Hospital as decided by the Cabinet. The decision -which is the subject matter before this Court- is the reallocation of funds as regards the payment to MedPoint Ltd for the purchase of the land and building for the NGH project”. The “offence” was committed on 23 December 2010. Mr. Pravind Jugnauth was then serving as Minister of Finance in the Ramgoolam-led government. After they analyzed and interpreted in law the thorny question of conflict of interest, they came to the conclusion that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth “ignored his public duty and approved a reallocation of funds to pay MedPoint Ltd”. “The offence is committed as soon as an Accused places himself in such situation where his public duty clashes with his personal interest or appears, to a reasonable man, to so clash. The appearance of influence or perception of bias is sufficient to constitute the offence of conflict of interest. The POCA has provided for the offence of conflict of interest as a criminal offence. The facts of the present case establish the elements of the offence beyond reasonable doubt and the Court finds the charge proved beyond reasonable doubt against Accused”, wrote the learned magistrates. On 2 July 2015, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth was sentenced to serve twelve months imprisonment. He had the choice to indulge into community service but he preferred to appeal against the judgment. Meanwhile, he resigned as Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation. Since then, the portfolio has been held by Mr. Roshi Bhadain. On Tuesday, the stage was set for the hearing of the appeal. The bench was made up the Chief Justice Mr. Keshoe Parsad Matadeen and Judge Mr. Ashraf Caunhye. Mr. Pravind Jugnauth who arrived at the Supreme Court at 9hrs 57 was represented by a panel of barristers and attorneys led by British ace lawyer Mrs. Clare Montgomery Q.C, Mr. Raouf Gulbul, Mr. Ravin Chetty, Senior Counsel, Mr. Désiré Basset, Senior Counsel, and Mrs Sharmila Sonah-Ori. The Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) was represented by Mr. Atish Roopchund and Mr, Homanaaden Ponnen. The DPP was represented by Mr. Rashid Ahmine, Senior Assistant DPP, Mr. Denis Mootoo, Mrs. Johanne Moutou-Leckning and Mrs Asha Ramano, all Assistant DPP. On day-one itself, Mrs. Clare Montgomery pleaded for some two hours, arguing that “the interest of MedPoint was not engaged, that the decision had already been taken”. “The approval was given as minister of Finance. The major issue is what is the need of a person’s interest in a decision. Whether interest must be such to give rise to a conflict. The lower court was wrong to hold that there was any interest in reallocation of funds”, pleaded Mrs. Montgomery. She insisted that during the case at the Intermediate Court, it could not be proved that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth had a “criminal intent” or a “guilty mind”. “This law has been enacted to precisely combat corruption and conflict of interest”, pleaded Mr. Rashid Ahmine. Referring to article 13 (2) of the PoCA, Mrs. Montgomery declared: “In my humble view this is a relatively conservative law in determining what is conflict of interest. But I do not want to argue much more on that:, During the two days, the panel of barristers and attorneys tried to convince the bench of judges on the 22 points of appeal. The decision of the Chief Justice and Judge Caunhye will be known in a few days. In spite of the fact that Police took all the precautions to avoid a gathering in the premises of the Supreme Court, some fifty supporters of the MSM and of its leader Mr. Pravind Jugnauth gathered along Pope Hennessy Street on the first day of the hearing. However, no incident was reported. A few politicians, namely Ministers Mrs. Leela Devi Dookhun-Luchoomun, Mr. Roshi Bhadain, Dr. Anwar Husnoo and Mrs. Fazeela Daureeawoo, Parliamentary Private Secretary Mrs. Sandhya Boygah, MPs Mr. Sudesh Rughoobar, Mr. Manish Gobin, Mr. Bashir Jahangeer, High Commission of Mauritius in London Mr.Girish Nunkoo and Mauritian Ambassador to the USA Mr. Soorooj Phokeer and lawyer Mr. Dick Ng Sui Wa were seen in court. The wife of Mr. Pravind Jugnauth, Mrs Kobita Jugnauth was not spotted in the premises of the Supreme Court on Tuesday. On the second day, only a few politicians were in court to support Mr. Jugnauth. This high profile case drew much attention in the media for the simple reason that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth is considered as the successor to his own father Sir Anerood Jugnauth as Prime Minister, although this arrangement was never presented to voters by leaders at the Alliance Lepep during the electoral campaign in view of the December 10, 2014 general elections. For most political observers, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth has been putting at stake his professional and political careers, not to mention his own integrity and his personal reputation. What could be the outcomes following the appeal? In the best case scenario, Mr. Pravind Jugnauth would be cleared and would resume his post as Minister. That would to his subsequent nomination as Prime Minister. This does not exclude the possibility that the Director of Public Prosecution takes up the case at the level of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The worst case scenario is that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth’s appeal is quashed and he has to have recourse to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. In clear, that would mean that Mr. Pravind Jugnauth will not be in a position to be roped in again in the cabinet of ministers and that he would have to wait again for several months. The question is whether Sir Anerood Jugnauth can afford to wait that long before handing over the post of Prime Minister to his designated successor. The grapevine has it that in the event that this situation occurs, Lady Sarojni Jugnauth could step in active politics. In an interview given to Mr. Jean-Claude Antoine and published in Week-End (Sunday 10 January 11, 2016), Mr. Ram Seegobin, one of the leaders of Lalit makes a very interesting and hard-hitting analysis of the current political situation. According to him, inconsistencies and weaknesses are numerous within the Alliance Lepep government. He also insisted that the projects announced by the government are hypothetical and depend on the international economic situation. This is exactly what has argued the leader of the opposition, Mr. Paul Bérenger at his first press conference held in 2016. Speaking to press on Saturday ( 9 January 2016) Mr. Bérenger has predicted that 2016 will not the year for the economic recovery. He gave four reasons to support his argument, namely that economic indicators, more precisely those published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, tend to forecast a slow economic growth, that the development budget has been considerably reduced, that the required trust is not felt and that there is lack of competence at the level of the government. He even went to the extent of terming the government as being a “katiac Charlie” (a ramshackle car). The first of the series of programmes, known as “la deuxième partie du Grand Journal” on Radio Plus, for 2016 and broadcasted on Monday and anchored by Mr. Gilbert Bablee, provided food for thought. Political observer Mr. Pitch Venkatasamy stated that there was not much realization of projects in 2015 and that many political leaders have not yet understood the message derived from the results of the December 10, 2014 general elections. Historian Mr. Joseph Chan Low stated that some of the controversial practices by the former government are very much in use, like nomination of close relatives. Trade unionist Mr. Reeaz Chuttoo explained that workers feel betrayed because the promised minimum wage has not yet been introduced. Interestingly enough, we learn from press reports that none other than the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and External Communications Mr. Xavier-Luc Duval is closely monitoring the development of the port. News that Dubai Ports World would take over the port sufficed to panic workers and send shock waves to operators and partners in the sector. Already the leader of the opposition has also expressed concern regarding this issue. He also said he was skeptic regarding the Heritage City project. Will we see signs of the promised “second miracle” in 2016 or will it be yet another year devoted to cleaning using a Karcher?