Derek Achong
A 63-year-old man from central Trinidad has received a hearing of his application to evict his sister-in-law from a parcel of leased land after threatening to sue the Registrar of the Chaguanas Magistrate’s Court over a delay in filing it.
Last Tuesday, Ramdin Boney, through his attorney Richard Jaggasar, made the legal threat in a pre-action protocol letter sent to the Judiciary official.
Three days later, Jaggasar received notification from the official stating that the application was listed for hearing today.
The notification means Boney will now have to reconsider his legal options and decide whether to still pursue the proposed case, although such a course is unlikely.
In the letter, obtained by Guardian Media last week, Jaggasar said the parcel of land in Felicity, Chaguanas, was initially leased to Boney’s father-in-law Emanuel Ramkissoon.
After Boney married Ramkissoon’s daughter Ramraji in 1990, he (Ramkissoon) applied to add the couple to the lease.
He claimed that after Ramkissoon passed away, his client and his wife continued to pay the $4 annual rental for the 10,000 square foot parcel of land under the tenancy agreement.
He claimed that his client inherited the lease after his wife passed away in December 2020.
In February, Boney sought to evict his sister-in-law, who was squatting on the land, by making an application under the Summary Ejectment Ordinance.
Boney and Jaggasar sought to follow up on the application but only received responses confirming receipt of their correspondence.
Jaggasar was then contacted by an employee at the court who claimed the application had to be filed in the High Court.
In the letter, Jaggasar pointed out that applications under the ordinance had to be dealt with by a summary court. He claimed the delay in the filing led to his sister-in-law remaining on the property.
“This has caused him to lose income which he ought to be able to receive from the property,” Jaggasar said.
Jaggasar contended that Boney’s constitutional rights to protection of the law and equality before the law were breached by the inordinate delay.
“The Judiciary’s agents have failed/neglected/ refused to process an application for ejectment under the summary ejectment ordinance without reasonable cause or due process,” he said.
Through the proposed lawsuit, Boney was seeking a series of declarations over the delay and an order compelling the registrar to immediately file and process the application.