Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj yesterday joined the list of people condemning United National Congress attorneys for serving an election petition to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi during a funeral service at St Paul’s Anglican Church, San Fernando, last Friday.
Maharaj said the serving of an election petition “on an attorney general in the precincts of a church at a funeral is unheard of, when it is known that the minister can be served at his office or any other place.”
He said notwithstanding that, the law provided for not only personal service of the petition but “substituted service, service through the post and there can be other means of service.”
He made the comment in response to Monday’s public defence of the incident by lead attorney for the UNC in the matter, Wayne Sturge, at a news conference at his Richmond Street, Port-of-Spain, office.
Sturge was accompanied by the bailiff who served the document, Mark Adams, who said he would do it again in the same way if the same circumstances prevailed.
The UNC is seeking a determination in the court against the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) for extending the voting period in the September 7 general election in Trinidad by one hour. The UNC is contending it was put at a disadvantage in the seats being challenged, including San Fernando West, represented by Al Rawi, Tunapuna, Moruga/Tableland, Toco/Sangre Grande, St Joseph and La Horquetta/Talparo.
Yesterday, Maharaj, who was attorney general under the former Basdeo Panday-led UNC, added: “There was no need for the server or the petitioner to serve this petition on the Attorney General in the precincts of the church.
“I think it was done in bad taste, it does not appear to be the normal thing to do and it is not right.”
In support of his claim, Maharaj said: “When one looks at who the person was (the AG) no one would think that the Attorney General would evade service (of the petition).”
He said people who are normally deemed to be evading service of a petition were those who could not normally be found.
“Anybody would know that a person who occupies a prominent office can be easily found so there was no necessity (to serve the petition in church) and I think it was in very bad taste to have done that,” he said.
Asked to respond to a claim by Sturge that there was a limited time to serve the petition, Maharaj said: “There can always be an extension of time as the court can extend the time so I do not buy the excuse that there was limited time.”
He said even if there was limited time he wanted to know what prevented it from being served before he entered the church.
Maharaj said the action taken by the attorneys for the UNC in the serving of the petition “gives the impression that this was done deliberately to cause an embarrassment to AG Al-Rawi.”