An interesting legal matter has now emerged between Minister of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings and the Office of the Attorney General, over the disclosure of a confidential Special Branch note to an Opposition senator. Former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC disclosed the intended action during a media conference at Kapok Hotel in St Clair yesterday.
With the leak of the report Maharaj said Cummings’ character and reputation were damaged by the failure of the State to have taken steps to ensure that the State through the Special Branch and the TTPS, did not allow the Secret Special Branch note to be disclosed to the public.
Lead attorney in Minister Cumming’s legal team Maharaj said that the failure of the State to discharge this duty and responsibility caused damage to his client’s character, and the State, in those circumstances, had an urgent responsibility in law to take steps to correct the false and inaccurate personal information. Maharaj added that the minister considers that he has a duty to resort to making a claim to the Supreme Court against the State to get appropriate relief to vindicate his character and reputation.
While Maharaj did not specifically name the Opposition senator, who obtained possession of the secret special branch report, in May 2022, Minister Cummings brought legal proceedings against UNC Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial-Ramdial and the Trinidad Express for “defaming” his “good name” by “publishing the contents of the report dated July 5, 2019”. That matter is still pending in court.
Maharaj also said the proposed claim against the office of the Attorney General has already been drafted and will be filed at the High Court “within the next week”. Maharaj contended that confidential notes held by the Special Branch were regarded not only as secret but as private, which means that the members of the Special Branch and the TTPS would and should know that such notes and their contents should not be published.
Maharaj noted that while the special branch note was prepared since 2019, to date, Minister Cummings has not been questioned by police in connection with any of the allegations against him, but the T&T Police Service continues to insist that the investigations are ongoing. A number of pre-action protocol letters have been sent to then-acting police commissioner McDonald Jacob and present Police Commissioner Erla Harewood Christopher to have the error corrected, but to date no such action had been taken by the TTPS.