Justice Shameen Hamuth-Laulloo, sitting in chambers, rejected this Wednesday 12 January the application made by the Integrity Reporting Services Agency to confiscate the assets seized from Navin Ramgoolam by the police after his arrest in February 2015. The assets concerned include Rs 220 million found in his safe-deposit boxes, a Mercedes, a Kia Picanto and two Amex Centurion Cards. According to Justice Hamuth-Laulloo, this is a “proper case to be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction”. She, therefore, set aside the application of IRSA referred the parties to, she stated in the judgment, the competent court as provided by Section 16 of the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Act. This means that she is referring the case to the Supreme Court. Section 16, subsection 2, of the Good Governance and Integrity Reporting Act states that: “Where the Judge in Chambers considers that an application for an order under subsection(1) cannot be granted on the basis of affidavit evidence, he shall refer the matter to the Supreme Court”.
This is exactly the conclusion of Justice Shameem Hamuth-Laulloo. She said that Navin Ramgoolam, the respondent, gave his explanation about where the wealth comes from. Ramgoolam explained that part of the money came from his income as Prime Minister and the ‘per diems’ paid to himself and his wife during his time as Head of Government. The rest, he says, came from donations to the Labour Party. Justice Hamuth-Laulloo added that the board of the IRSA is not satisfied with this explanation. For Justice Hamuth-Laulloo, Ramgoolam should have the opportunity to explain the source of the money seized.
