On July 10, the Privy Council will hear Suren Dayal’s election petition regarding the election of Pravind Jugnauth, Leela Devi Dookun and Yogida Sawmynaden to No. 8. Suren Dayal, defeated candidate of the Labor Party in the November 7, 2019 parliamentary elections in Quartier-Militaire/ Moka (No. 8) had appealed against the Supreme Court judgment dated August 12, invariably rejecting all the arguments put forward to challenge this election.
Suren Dayal had put forward the argument of Bribery, including the Prime Minister’s promise to double the old age pension about a month before the 2019 polls; the announcement of a hasty implementation of the Pay Research Bureau (PRB) report in January 2020, affecting 80,000 civil servants; and the MBC’s partisan coverage of the election, which had even received a warning from the Electoral Supervisory Commission. However, the Supreme Court held in its judgment that there had been no act of electoral corruption. Justices Chan and Gunesh-Balaghee pointed out that it is up to the voters to decide which candidates to vote for after reviewing the various manifestos and platforms of the candidates, parties and alliances taking part in the legislative elections. After the Supreme Court ruling, Suren Dayal and his lawyers, Robin Ramburn, Senior Counsel, and Hiren Jankee, Solicitor, decided to take the case to the Privy Council and the case was filed on December 9. Suren Dayal, supported by the PTRr, has retained the services of Timothy Straker, King’s Counsel. As for Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, he will be assisted by Guy Vassal-Adams KC of Matrix Chambers, Eric Ribot, Senior Counsel, and Ravin Chetty, Senior Counsel with Shamila Sonah-Ori, Attorney at Law.
