Alleged fuel smuggler sues Berbice Magistrate for $10M

By KNews

- says he was asked for bribe, falsely detained

A Berbice man has sued Magistrate Chandra Sohan for $10M and is also accusing him of soliciting bribes to dismiss a criminal case.

Husband, wife allege beating

The matter was filed in December by Lendrick Ramdowar of Bath, West Coast Berbice, and is to come up again in two weeks before Justice William Ramlal.
The $10M damages claim is for “false imprisonment, misfeasance in public office and/or negligence with costs.”

In a Statement of Claim filed by Ramdowar’s lawyer, Mursaline Bacchus, against the Magistrate, it was disclosed that in March 2007, the plaintiff was charged along with his son, Muneshwar Ramdowar, with the possession and transportation of illegal fuel.
The matter came up before Magistrate Sohan at the Albion Magistrate’s Court, and both men were remanded to prison.
They were subsequently granted bail by the same magistrate and the matter was transferred to the New Amsterdam court.
About two to three months after being charged, Ramdowar claimed in the statement that he was approached by one Kumar Doraisami who said that the Magistrate “wanted one million dollars to dismiss the case against the plaintiff (Ramdowar). The plaintiff rejected the proposal,” the claim said.
In August or September 2007, another person named “Alex”, a “known associate of the Defendant, met the Plaintiff and informed him that the Defendant sent him to speak to the Plaintiff about his fuel case and informed the Plaintiff that the Defendant wanted $750,000 to dismiss the case. The Plaintiff rejected the proposal.”
According to Ramdowar, last year, on September 4, he appeared before the Magistrate in the same fuel case. He was placed on the bench for two hours from 09:30hrs by the Magistrate after being told that there was a warrant for his arrest issued at the Fort Wellington Court. The statement said that in fact there was no arrest warrant and he was released after he made representations to the Magistrate.
“The Plaintiff alleges and would establish that the Defendant is liable to him for false imprisonment.
The Plaintiff alleges and would establish that if the Defendant acted within his jurisdiction in imprisoning the Plaintiff, he the Defendant acted maliciously and without reasonable or probable cause. Alternatively, the Defendant had no jurisdiction or exceeded his jurisdiction in imprisoning the Plaintiff.”
Ramdowar claimed that he suffered loss of liberty and damages as a result.
Magistrate Sohan is being represented by Attorney-at-Law, Ramesh Rajkumar, who asked yesterday for leave to file defense.

Saturday, January 16, 2010