Former legislator, whose vote toppled the Guyana government, wins the multi-million-dollar lawsuit.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana– A High Court judge has ordered former public security minister Khemraj Ramjattan to pay seven million dollars (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) in compensation to Guyana’s High Commissioner to India, Charanda Persaud, whose vote in 2018 had resulted in the downfall of the then David Granger government.

Justice Jo-Ann Barlow also ordered that Ramjattan refrains from making statements that suggest that Persaud had been compensated financially for his vote in the no-confidence motion that had been brought by the then opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) against Granger’s coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) government.

Perseid, then a government legislator, had voted with the PPP/C and, in his defamation suit in which he had initially sought compensation totaling GUY$30 million, said he had been defamed by Ramjattan, who claimed that he was paid for his vote.

During the High Court hearing, several newspaper articles were presented and a statement made on social media.

Persaud contended that these published statements were intended to lower his reputation, character, morality, and honesty as an attorney at law in the eyes of right-thinking public members.

But Ramjattan insisted that the claims were merely attributed to him and not said by him. He said he was not the author of the articles.

“This court, in assessing this matter, found that an award of $7,000,000 is appropriate in the circumstances of this case. The court further orders that the defendant refrains from making statements suggesting that the claimant was compensated financially for his role in the No-Confidence Motion. The defendant shall pay the claimant costs for $150,000 on or before 25th August 2022.”

Persaud was a member of the Alliance for Change (AFC), the second biggest party in the APNU. He left the country just after his December 2018 vote and returned to Guyana when the government changed following the 2020 elections.

The new government appointed him as Guyana’s High Commissioner to India.