Former Junior Minister of Finance under the APNU+AFC administration Jaipaul Sharma, on Friday, issued an apology to Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall over statements he (Sharma) made on his Facebook page.
Nandlall on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Sharma and Peoples National Congress (PNC) Executive member and Attorney-at-Law James Bond.
In a Statement of Claim, Nandlall is seeking damages above $25 million from each of them over libellous posts they made about him via Facebook.
On November 17, 2020, Sharma referred to the PPP/C Government as “hypocritical” for going after Bond and others for questionable land deals using the office of the Attorney General.
In the publication, Sharma claimed that Mohabir A. Nandlall & Associates, in which Nandlall was the senior and managing partner before he was appointed Attorney General, was involved in some of these land transactions in which a large plot of land was transferred a few days after David Granger was sworn in as president in 2015.
Nandlall’s lawyers had written to Sharma, informing him that his post was not only libellous, but malicious and completely false, and is causing damage to the standing, integrity, and reputation of the law firm and to Nandlall’s reputation.
The Attorney General had demanded that Sharma retract the offensive publication and issue an apology immediately to him and the law firm. He had further informed Sharma that he reserves the right to institute legal proceedings against him; however, the apology may mitigate the quantum of compensation the firm is seeking.
Sharma, however, did not even bother to issue the apology. Instead, Nandlall said, Sharma aggravated the libel by publishing another post reciting a conversation he had with him about the source of the information contained in his statement about the land transfer.
On the other hand, Nandlall stated, shortly after Sharma had published the offensive posts, Bond published a post containing libellous remarks about him. According to the court action, Bond referred to the law firm as “Anil Numbskulls Chambers”, and, like Sharma, stated that it was involved in land transfers.
According to court documents seen by this publication, Bond referred to Nandlall by certain derogatory remarks, and said he knows for a fact that clients gave the law firm millions of United States dollars to facilitate the transaction purchase of land and equipment.
The PNC Executive member then made another post in which he claimed that Nandlall likes to make threats and carry them out. Bond further went on to say that Nandlall slanders and libels him daily.
See below statement by Mr Jaipaul Sharma
My family called a meeting and the consensus was that I apologise to the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Guyana MOHABIR. A. NANDLALL on Facebook and to close my Facebook Account.
My family all say that they are concern for my safety and they do not want a Die Hard Christmas but a Merry Christmas.
I had to agree with them, since I was outnumbered and since I believe in democracy.
I therefore issue an apology to the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Guyana MOHABIR. A. NANDLALL.
In addition, I will close my Facebook account after 5 day of this post during which period I will not make any further post about the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Guyana MOHABIR. A. NANDLALL, if he discontinue with his legal action against me.
