President David Granger was adamant that trade unionist Carvil Duncan must remain suspended from several constitutional agencies despite having his fraud charge legally dismissed.
He contended that the ruling by the Magistrate on November 2, 2016, does not prove Duncan’s innocence and reminded that there is still another matter of conspiracy pending in the courts.
“The ruling by the magistrate was that insufficient evidence had been provided; there’s a slight difference between insufficient evidence and innocence,” the Head of State explained during his weekly telecast ‘The Public Interest’.
Granger posited that he will await the findings of the tribunal he had established to determine whether Duncan is fit to continue serving in his constitutional positions.
Duncan was facing a charge which stated that on March 31, 2015 at Georgetown, he stole $984,900, property of GPL.
But Magistrate Leron Daly ruled that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to make out a prima facie case against Duncan who was charged on January 26, 2016.
Duncan still faces a conspiracy charge which stated that between May 7 and 8, 2015, he conspired with then Deputy Chief Executive Officer of GPL, Aeshwar Deonarine, to steal $27,757,547, property of the power company.
He is expected in court on January 4, 2017, to answer that charge.
Duncan was recently suspended from the chairmanship of the Public Service Commission, as well as his membership in several other constitutional bodies by the President, who appointed a Tribunal to determine his fate in light of the criminal charges.
Duncan had moved to the High Court and late last month, Justice Franklin Holder issued temporary orders to halt the work of the tribunal.
But Minister of State Joseph Harmon told the media that the work of the tribunal was completed at the time the orders were circulated.
Harmon indicated that the order is preventing the tribunal from submitting its report to the President and that the attorneys representing the State will be challenging the court order.
Justice Holder had ruled that the tribunal was established based upon unlawful advice provided by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo.
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UN-Lawful advise by PM Nagamootoo…Sue him! If this was ANY where else in the world, this government would have been in trouble…The fact remain, the PNC regime is trying to undermine the opposition…Same tactics Burhnam used on Jagan to cling to power for 30 years….Are we returning to these days…Ramon Gaskin wrote an article about the violation of Law with the parallel legal systems set-up…Such as SOCU, SARA, etc which are led by a PNC member….Hall of Shame behaviour….Where is the UN and human rights?