Chaudhry Loses Appeal, Fine Reduced
Former Prime Minister and Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Pal Chaudhry (pictured) will not contest next month’s general elections.
This was after the panel of judges in the Fiji Court of Appeal ruled in Suva yesterday that his 11 grounds of appeal had no merit.
The judges also ruled that for the reasons set out in the judgment, Mr Chaudhry’s initial $2million fine has been reduced to $1m however his sentence and conviction remained.
Section 56(2) of the 2013 Constitution states that; “A person may be a candidate for election to Parliament only if the person has not, at any time during the eight years immediately before being nominated, been convicted of any offence under any law for which the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more”.
Meanwhile, in court yesterday Mr Chaudhry maintained that he was still the Fiji Labour Party leader.
In May 2 this year Justice Paul Madigan, in sentencing Mr Chaudhry, had ordered him to pay a fine of $2m by June 30 this year.
Failure to pay the fine would have resulted in Mr Chaudhry serving 15 months in prison for which the non-parole period was 12 months.
Justice Madigan also ordered Mr Chaudhry to comply with the terms of the Exchange Control Act and offer all his foreign funds held abroad to an authorised dealer and this was to have been done by July 31.
This meant that he needed to bring home the $AU1.5m held in Australia.
Failing to have done so would have made him liable for prosecution for continuing to breach the Act.
The prohibition for Mr Chaudhry to access the foreign held funds had also been lifted by Justice Madigan.
Mr Chaudhry had also been barred from travelling out of Fiji until he had paid his fine or served his prison term.
Justice Madigan said once Mr Chaudhry had paid his fine or served his sentence he would then be free of the restrictions to access his funds overseas and bring it into Fiji.
Mr Chaudhry had been found guilty and convicted of three counts of breaching the Exchange Control Act. In an interview with FijiVillage, Mr Chaudhry said he would remain the party leader. When approached later by the Fiji Sun at the Fiji Labour Party Office at Vatuwaqa, he said they were considering legal options at the moment.
‘Yes, our lawyers will be studying the judgment and issue a full statement later.’’
Party officials appeared undeterred by the latest development.
“There is no leadership crisis. Mr Chaudhry has always been the party leader and will continue to remain so. This will only boost our support,’’ the official, who declined to be named, said.
When contacted last night, Supervisor of Elections Mohammed Saneem said he had not read the judgment and could not comment on whether Chaudhry could remain as FLP leader under current laws.
