After the Bruneau Laurette case and then Akil Bissessur, this time it is in the context of the Sherry Singh case that the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions have clashed. The former CEO of Mauritius Telecom and his wife Varsha appeared before the Port-Louis court on Tuesday in connection with the seizure of copper from the premises of Tradeway International. More specifically, the application to strike out the provisional charge against them.
However, attention was drawn to another aspect of the case. The Police Commissioner’s representative announced that the police had already retained the services of a private lawyer, Mr Ammar Oozeer, in this case.
Mr Bissessur, the DPP’s representative, strongly objected. He stated that the DPP’s office must first give its approval before a private lawyer can represent the prosecution.
This clash is nothing new. Yesterday in the Mahébourg court, there was an initial clash between the police representative and the DPP representative. This was after the latter had announced the DPP’s decision not to object to Akil Bissessur’s release on bail.
On leaving the court in Port-Louis, the former DPP said that there had to be mutual respect and cooperation between the DPP and the CP. “It’s in the interests of justice and the public that things should be like this. It is also in the interests of the proper administration of justice,” he said.
