The High Court has dismissed a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit brought by businessman Emile Elias and his company, N-H International, against Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal.
The Court has also ordered Mr Elias and his company to pay Dr Moonilal’s full legal costs.
Attorney at Law, Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan says the ruling is a victory for free speech and public accountability.
Attorney at Law, Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan says the lawsuit brought by businessman Emile Elias in 2018 stemmed from comments made by Dr Roodal Moonilal during the 2016 Local Government Election campaign, questioning how a $145 million housing contract by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) was awarded.
Dr Moonilal allegedly made statements concerning the award of the contract, noting that Mr Elias had not met the pre-qualification criteria, nor had he made it to the top five ranked pre-qualification contractors.
Mr Elias alleged that the statements were defamatory and damaged his character because it meant that his company got the contract as a result of bid-rigging and political corruption.
However, Mr Ramlogan said key evidence emerged during cross-examination of N-H International, which exposed gaps in the evaluation process for the contract.
“There was no explanation whatsoever as to how, having failed that criteria, he was nevertheless shortlisted and sent for evaluation to PricewaterhouseCoopers. And it was in those circumstances that the judge dismissed the claim for defamation against Dr Moonilal.”
He said the judge accepted Dr Moonilal’s defence that, as an Opposition politician at the time, he had a duty to raise concerns in the public interest.
“This is a significant matter because it is a victory for freedom of speech, but also the judge highlighted Dr Moonilal’s right as an Opposition politician to raise in the public domain serious issues concerning the irregularities that occurred during that procurement process and to highlight any issues of corruption so that the public can judge for itself based on the facts.”
Mr Ramlogan stressed that Dr Moonilal relied on internal Housing Development Corporation documents, and not speculation or political rhetoric.
The court ultimately dismissed the defamation claim and ordered that Dr Moonilal’s legal costs be paid in full.
“It was ventilated by Dr Moonilal and today he has had a historic ruling in his favour. The judge dismissed the claim for defamation against the present Minister of Energy, Dr Moonilal, and awarded him his full legal costs, certified fit for senior and junior counsel.”
Mr Ramlogan argued that the project specifically required contractors with substantial lands to bid for the design-build-finance project, noting that N-H International had no lands.
He said the ruling has fully vindicated Dr Moonilal and sends a clear message about integrity in public life.
“And he has been vindicated by the court because it has found that there was ample justification for him raising the issues in the public domain. He did not say anything defamatory of Mr Elias or N-H International. He simply dealt with the issues based on the report that he had from HDC’s own evaluation committee, which clearly showed that N-H International did not meet the certain financial criteria.”
High Court Judge Justice Joan Charles also dismissed the claim brought by Elias against Radio Vision Limited, with costs to be paid by Elias.
Justice Charles, however, upheld in part a claim by Elias against a daily newspaper and awarded compensation and half of his legal costs.