A woman from Trincity has been given until July 1 to pay an almost $200,000 debt to a businessman or face 14 days in prison.
High Court Judge Frank Seepersad made the order against Beverly Sewsarran after upholding a contempt of court application from Victor Jattan, yesterday morning.
According to the evidence in the case, in May 2022, Jattan sued Sewsarran and a man for a $105,000 debt plus 10 per cent interest over a four-year period.
The man was eventually removed from the case and Jattan obtained a default judgment against Sewsarran in the sum of $146,205.97 after she failed to defend the case.
In March, last year, Jattan’s lawyer was able to question Sewsarran before High Court Master Sherlanne Pierre to assist in enforcing the judgment.
Several months later, the parties entered a consent order under which Sewsarran agreed to pay the judgment debt plus additional interest as well as the $50,000 in legal costs incurred by Jattan in monthly instalments over a six-month period.
In January, Sewsarran requested and received an extension of time from Jattan as she claimed that she was having difficulties in obtaining the funds to clear the debt.
Jattan filed the contempt application after Sewsarran failed to meet the extended deadline and reportedly stopped communicating with his legal team.
In his affidavit attached to the application, Jattan admitted that he was initially reluctant to seek the contempt order.
“I feel that I am out of options and can no longer sit idly by whilst the judgment debtor refuses to make any payments,” he said.
Responding to the application, yesterday, Sewsarran’s lawyer Peter Taylor requested a further extension to clear the debt as he noted that his client had indicated she would receive the money from business transactions in June.
In upholding the application, Justice Seepersad noted that Jattan and his lawyer Bryan McCutcheon had satisfied all the procedural prerequisites under the Civil Proceedings Rules 1998 needed to pursue the application.
He also ruled that Sewsarran’s failure to abide by the court orders was contemptuous.
“I hold that there was unjustified and inexcusable refusal to obey the court’s order,” he said.
Justice Seepersad stated that the court had to send a strong message to citizens that court orders are mandatory and non-compliance could attract penalties including temporary loss of freedom.
“It must resonate with all citizens that civil court orders must be complied with. Compliance with court orders is not discretionary,” he said.
Based on Taylor’s assurances, Justice Seepersad decided against making the prison sentence order immediate. Instead, he suspended the order so it would only take effect if Sewsarran did not meet the final deadline suggested by her.