Bulkans file motion for expedited hearing at Court of Appeal

Mar 13, 2022 News

– believe ruling in favour of Republic Bank indicates “grave miscarriage of justice”

Kaieteur News – Ronald and Rustum Bulkan, the joint Managing Directors of Precision Woodworking Ltd (in receivership), on March 7, 2022, via their Attorney, Roysdale Forde filed a Motion at the Court of Appeal seeking an expedited hearing of their case—No. 30 of 2021—against the decision of Justice Navindra Singh delivered on February 15, 2021, in the lawsuit against Republic Bank (Guyana) Limited and receiver Kashir Khan.

Receiver, Kashir Khan

In the Bulkans’ application, a copy of which has been seen by this paper, the brothers allege that they have established circumstances that indicate a grave miscarriage of justice, which should warrant the Court of Appeal’s permission of an expedited hearing of their appeal.

Ronald Bulkan, one of the Managing Directors of Precision Woodworking Ltd (in receivership)

One such circumstance they said is that the trial judge, Justice Navindra Singh, in giving his decision, disregarded a Full Court Order, which had struck out three sub-paragraphs of a Statement of Claim. Instead, the brothers noted that Justice Singh opted to rule on those same struck out sub-paragraphs (plus one more) and not on the 12 sub-paragraphs he was expected to consider for the case.
The Bulkans’ affidavit contends that the premise of the decision, based on these struck out sub-paragraphs, was therefore flawed and constituted “a substantial and grave travesty of justice.” They believe that the High Court on this ground did not properly consider their case.

The aggrieved applicants also highlighted that a specialist court, the Commercial Court, took almost nine years to make this flawed decision. They said this was partly because the First Defendant, Kashir Khan, took four years to file a witness statement after being ordered by the Court, without reprimand or penalty.
The Bulkans contend that they made more than 100 court appearances in the matter and that in addition to the immense financial harm suffered, they continue to endure hurt, ridicule and severe emotional distress for more than a decade in which the matter has languished.

Republic Bank’s Chairman, Nigel Baptiste

They further allege that the receiver appointed by the Bank, Kashir Khan, has disposed of all of the company’s assets, including prime real estate and specialised manufacturing equipment, and has refused to give them any account of his dealings, nor has he filed accounts with the Registry as required by law.
The Bulkans, in their affidavit, have stated that after the dismissal of their action, they have written to Republic Bank requesting the accounts, which the receiver has refused to provide, and these requests have also been ignored. They have pointed out that since they have issued personal guarantees to the Bank, in the absence of the information regarding their accounts, they are denied the opportunity of restarting their business and pursuing legitimate livelihoods.
The Bulkans were responsible for establishing and managing one of Guyana’s leading value-added manufacturers, Precision Woodworking Limited, which was founded in 1983 to manufacture and export high-quality furniture for the European market using indigenous Guyanese hardwoods.

Justice Navindra Singh

In 2001, the company received the Ernst & Young Caribbean Entrepreneur of the Year award for its export achievements – the only Guyanese company to do so at the time.
After encountering financial difficulties during the global financial crisis in 2009, the company secured an offer to purchase some of its real estate, which would have enabled them to restructure operations and continue the business. However, due to absurd actions by the company’s bank, Republic Bank, this plan was botched – leading to the filing of the Bulkans’ action since 2011.
The Bulkans’ application for an expedited hearing to the Court of Appeal is expected to be determined in the coming weeks. They believe that they have satisfied the Court’s criteria on granting expedited hearings, which the Court expressed in a 2018 Application by Sharmella Inderjali, represented by Mr. Siand Dhurjon and Mr. Sanjeev Datadin.
The Court had said that “any exceptions (to accord priority) must be for some good reason, justifiable on its face and transparently applied,” with the applicant first proving some exceptional circumstance in the case that justifies urgency and, second, that the appeal has strong prospects of success.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News