The quality of mercy is not strain’d
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself,
An earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.
Therefore, Jew,
Though justice by thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.
(Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice”.)

THE famous case of Ambard has enshrined Trinidad and Tobago as a lasting monument in the annals of legal history.

The sentence imposed by Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls on Basdeo Panday, once Prime Minister of the Republic of TnT, will also go down in history.

But for a different reason.

Basdeo Panday is a man who served for many years as a trade unionist.

He was a practising lawyer.

He entered politics and served as a Senator.

He rose to the highest political position of Prime Minister of our country.

He was, until recently, Leader of the Opposition.

Basdeo Panday is 72 years of age.

He has had three heart bypass operations.

One of his brothers died of a heart attack, and his other brother, Subhas Panday, a member of Parliament, has also had a heart bypass operation.

Such a man, having been found guilty of failing to declare among his assets a foreign bank account, as he is required to do in law, is sentenced by Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls to two years on each of the three counts, to be served concurrently and with hard labour.

He forfeits $1,600,000 in the account to the State, imposes a fine of $20,000 on each count and refuses to grant bail pending an appeal!

In the Ambard case, it was enshrined as a guiding principle that justice is not a cloistered virtue.

It may be fairly commented upon, once there is no malice or intent to undermine the law and principles of justice.

One has a duty to speak out in the public interest.

I was of the opinion that Basdeo Panday would be found guilty and that the same measure of justice which was meted out to the PNM member Eddie Hart in a magistrates’ court for assault and battery against a UNC candidate in the parliamentary elections then being contested, would be used.

I was wrong.

That PNM member, accused of an act involving violence, is found guilty, but discharged under that section of the law which says that no punishment will be meted out, no conviction will be recorded, and he would not therefore be precluded from holding elected office.

But my anticipation was all wrong.

Panday’s corn was measured in a different bushel.

John O’Halloran carted off tens of millions of dollars without let or hindrance.

He held a diplomatic passport for 10 years after ceasing to be a member of Parliament.

He was not a diplomat.

He acquired two massive tower buildings in Canada.

The man-in-the-street was convinced that he was the bagman taking taxpayers’ money out of the country not only for himself, but for others, too.

The PNM Government settled the issue for a paltry reimbursement of $8,000,000!

O’Halloran, former PNM Minister of Petroleum and Mines, was never brought to justice, nor his ill-gotten gains forfeited by the State.

He never spent a day in jail.

Do we still suffer from an inferiority complex because of the colour of a man’s skin, his race, his social status, his religion or his political connection?

Do these criteria influence our sense of justice?

Why was he not charged for putting his fingers in the public coffers?

Was this former PNM minister above the law?

Is it a case of different strokes for different folks?

Selwyn Richardson, former attorney general, of whom it was said he was bent on exposing corruption, was brutally murdered.

Has the truth about his murder ever been revealed and the murderers brought to justice?

A police woman, on an exercise mission in which the police are given blanks to use, and not live bullets, is shot dead!

It is whispered that she saw poeple in high places involved in corruption.

Has anyone ever been brought to justice for this unsolved crime?

Why not?

Will all those who failed to state some of their assets in their forms they were required to submit be brought to book like Panday?

Are they trembling in their shoes at the possibility of the most harsh and cruel punishment?

Or, will a different yardstick be used to measure their offence?

A most serious allegation is made against some of the highest members of the present government party about their involvement in planting drugs and arms in the water tank of Sadiq Baksh, a former minister of government, now in the Opposition.

These items were found just before a general election.

No charges have been brought against Sadiq Baksh.

But the alleged findings undermined the chances of the UNC of winning the elections.
Dirty tricks?

The present government refuses to appoint an independent inquiry into so serious a matter.

A man named Vernon Paul, residing in Venezuela, says he has first-hand information and is willing to come to Trinidad and give evidence involving top PNM members in the planting of the drugs and arms, if he is given protection and assurance of his personal safety.

No guarantee of protection and safety is given by the government, so he will not come.

And the goverment, whose members stand accused of involvement, say that Vernon Paul is not a man to be believed, so there will be no public enquiry!

They have sat in judgement over themselves and dismissed the charges made by Vernon Paul!

Quo vadis, my beloved country?