AT 3.30 pm on Wednesday, a High Court judge will rule on an emergency application for an injunction filed by a political activist to challenge the Government’s decision to proclaim parts of the Local Government Reform Act.
On Tuesday, Justice Jacqueline Wilson heard submissions from attorneys for activist Ravi Balgobin-Maharaj, who filed the application in the High Court last week.
The application seeks to restrain all councillors and aldermen elected in the December 2, 2019, local government elections from acting beyond December 3, 2022.
Wilson said she will give her decision at 3.30 pm on Wednesday.
The act allows local government elections to be delayed by a year, which the government has said it wants to do.
Alternatively, Balgobin-Maharaj wants the offices of all councillors and aldermen declared vacant from December 4.
In submissions on Wednesday, Balgobin-Maharaj’s lead attorney, Anand Ramlogan, SC, maintained that amendments to the Municipal Corporations Act could not be applied retrospectively, as that would increase the terms of councillors and aldermen by a year, ultimately delaying the local government elections which should have been due next month or by March 2023.
Ramlogan said for the change to be lawful, Parliament needed to expressly say so, as it took away the right of the electorate to vote in an election when it is legally due.
“The right to vote arises expressly from the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act for an election to take place within 90 days of the end of the term of office of councillors and aldermen.
“The election must be held when it is legally due.”
Ramlogan accused the government of using “legislative sleight of hand” to postpone the local government elections for an entire year without Parliament expressly saying so.
He said this position was based on an error.
“There is a fundamental breach of the rule of law,” he maintained, urging the judge not to wait until December 3 for “an illegal state of affairs,” as alleged breaches arose from the Cabinet’s interpretation of the amendments.
Ramlogan also said the Cabinet acted in excess of its jurisdiction.
In his legal action, Balgobin-Maharaj has asked the court to stop any plan to postpone the elections and quash a declaration that elections are now due between December 4, 2023, and March 4, 2024, and the decision to extend the term of office of all councillors and aldermen.
Wilson is expected to hear his substantive lawsuit in January.
Objecting to an injunction's being granted, the State’s lead attorney, Douglas Mendes, SC, advised the judge to determine where the least irreparable harm would lie in granting one, since she did not, at this stage, have to decide on the merits of the case.
He said the only issue before the court was whether the amendments to the Municipal Corporation Act were to be construed as applying to a sitting council, taking effect immediately, or only in relation to councils elected in the future.
“If we are correct, and the legislature has extended the terms of
