The former Minister of Commerce can breathe a sigh of relief. The Port-Louis Court has given him the benefit of the doubt in the Constituency Clerk case. He was charged with forgery in writing and making use of a forged private writing. Magistrate Anusha Rawoah indicated that the prosecution had been failed to establish the guilt of the MP for Constituency No. 8.
Gulbul: Mrs Kistnen “not a credible witness” for the Court.
Yogida Sawmynaden has been found not guilty by the Intermediate Court in the Constituency Clerk case. The judgment was delivered this morning. On leaving the Court, one of the two lawyers for the former Minister of Commerce, Mr Raouf Gulbul, said he had noted that the Court had severely criticised the testimony of Simla, Soopramanien Kistnen’s widow. The magistrate, he said, used very harsh language to describe the contradictions in her testimony. “For the Court, Mrs Kistnen is not a credible witness. The Court insisted she lied in an affidavit,” he said. Mr Gulbul also stressed the importance of respecting judicial institutions, saying that it was the Court that should judge individuals, not other bodies.
Sawmynaden: “I stood firm…”
Acquitted in the Constituency Clerk case, Yogida Sawmynaden left the Intermediate Court with a smile on his face on Thursday 30 May. The former minister was found not guilty. Yogida Sawmynaden said he was ‘relieved’. “I believe in God, in my prayers. The truth has triumphed. I thank the judiciary for listening to the case and making the right judgment,” he said.
The former minister stressed that his constituents, the Prime Minister, and his wife had supported him all along. “Despite all kinds of campaigns against me, I stood my ground and remained upright because my conscience was clear… The judgment is very clear. Today, we can see who is telling the truth and who is lying,” Yogida Sawmynaden added.
The two charges of ‘forgery of private writing’ and ‘making use of forged private writing’ that Sawmynaden, 47, faced were dismissed.
Simla Kistnen: “I never lied”
“I have never lied. Everything I have said is true.” This is what Simla Kistnen, Soopramanien Kistnen’s widow, told the press after the judgment was announced by the Intermediate Court on Thursday morning. Yogida Sawmynaden has been found not guilty. Simla Kistnen said it is difficult to accept such a decision as she never received a single rupee as “Constituency Clerk”. Simla Kistnen says she would like the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal.