Judge orders T&T to pay $2.6M to Maha Sabha in discrimination case

A High Court judge on Tuesday ordered the Trinidad and Tobago government to pay the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) $2.6 million in compensation for discrimination against the Hindu body for failing to grant the Maha Sabha a radio license.

The SDMS fought the government all the way to the Privy Council, where it won its case with the Law Lords ruling that the state discriminated against the SDMS; it ordered the government to grant the license.

Read the details of the struggle for the radio licence

The SDMS, which operates Central Broadcasting Services Ltd, has been broadcasting as Radio Jagriti 107.7 FM.

In awarding damages Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh said it was a "plain and simple" case of discrimination.

"In a country where inequality of treatment is so much a part of our history, it is essential that public authorities act to promote fair processes and equality of opportunity," the judge said.

He added that the award is meant "primarily to deter public authorities and persons exercising public functions from engaging in or persisting with unequal treatment."

Boodoosingh said he considered among other things the State’s delay in dealing with the Maha Sabha’s radio licence application in October 2000, as well as the State’s unjustified delay in complying with the Privy Council judgment.

The SDMS fought for seven years to get justice on this matter. It had argued that the government's refusal to grant the broadcasting licence was discriminatory because it had allowed at least two Christian radio stations to operate full time in Trinidad and Tobago.

While it did not object to Christian programming it argued that the Hindu community had needs similar to those of other faiths and should have had equal treatment by the state.

The state continued to refuse to grant approval and the Maha Sabha filed a constitutional motion claiming inequality of treatment. On February 5, 2004, Justice Carlton Best ruled that there was unequal treatment in Central Broadcasting Services’ application in relation to Citadel Ltd.

The State appealed but the higher court upheld the judgment.

When the Manning administration continued to delay in granting the license the Maha Sabha took the matter to the country's highest court, The Privy Council, which ruled on July 4, 2006, that the State had discriminated against the Maha Sabha and held that the organization's constitutional right to freedom of expression was violated.

The Privy Council ordered the State to grant the licence to the Maha Sabha forthwith. But the Maha Sabha didn't get it until September 22 that year.

Commenting on the award Maha Sabha general secretary Sat Maharaj urged the state to prosecute all those who discriminated against the Hindu community and the Maha Sabha.

“We asked the Integrity Commission to investigate this, but the commission is in limbo...We call on the State to go after the people in Cabinet who did this wrong. Identify those who lied to the court,” Maharaj told the Trinidad Guardian.

Related story: Appeal court rules against PM Manning
Read the commentary: T&T has no room for discrimination