The Chaudhry Trial: Rajendra Chaudhry launches blistering attack on Justice Paul Madigan's Summing Up to Assessors in Chaudhry foreign exchange control trial

By RAJENDRA CHAUDHRY

Paul Madigan lies in his summing up to assessors in the Mahendra Chaudhry case

"This man, as said earlier, is incompetent and a threat to justice. I refer to paragraph 12 of his summing up, where he said:

"13. There is no legal requirement for the accused to be ‘directed’ or given notice of his impending breach. You might think that it was unfair not to be given full details of his breach before he was charged and you might think that it was discourteous of the Reserve Bank not to reply to Mr Chaudhry’s letter of 18 November 20009 but those matters are not elements of the offence and should not play a part in your deliberations.”

The above summing up is an outright lie and exposes Madigan’s lack of competence as a judge. I refer to Section 39 (2) and (3) of the Exchange Control Act, which reads:

39 (2) Any directions given under any provision of this Act -
(a) may be either general or special; and
(b) may be revoked or varied subsequent directions; and
(c) shall be given to such persons and in such manner as the competent authority thinks appropriate and, if so given, shall be valid for all purposes.
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (c) of subsection (2), a person shall not by, virtue of any direction given by the competent authority under this Act, be convicted of an offence against this Act, unless the direction was served on him or he knew, or avoided getting to know, of the giving thereof:

In the Chaudhry case, no direction was served. Without such direction Chaudhry could not be convicted of any offences under the Exchange Control Act (39(3). Madigan acknowledges this in his summing up by saying no such direction was needed.

Madigan was clearly wrong at law in directing the assessors on this important issue, and his doing so could lead to the obvious conclusion that he is incompetent.

His incompetence has led to the conviction of an innocent man. He is a disgrace and a threat to justice. He must be immediately suspended as a judge and issued with proceedings for judicial misconduct

Fijileaks Editor: Peter Bodor QC, Mahendra Chaudhry's defence lawyer, made the following statement after Victor Lal sought Bodor's comments on the article: "Let it be clearly understood I never comment on cases, personalities or decisions of the Court directly or indirectly; whether to the media or any entity other than to the client in privileged circumstances during the course of my holding instructions for that client. If properly instructed I will pursue an appeal that has merit. I have not been approached or engaged at this time for any appeal arising from Mr Chaudhry's convictions. I do not have any comment to make regarding Mr Lal's inquiry of me in the email below. "