Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh says that former Court of Appeal judge Rabi Sukul did not inform the Office of the Chancellor of any outstanding complaint against him.
Justice Singh told Stabroek News that he was “of the firm view that Mr Sukul had a clear obligation to advise me or the Judicial Service Commis-sion of the proceedings against him,” in England which eventually led to Sukul’s disbarment by the Bar Council of England and Wales on February 3, 2014.
The Chancellor continued that Justice Sukul had an obligation to disclose all relevant information but “he unacceptably defaulted”. He said that there was no formal communication by the England and Wales Bar Council citing the complaint made against Sukul.
This newspaper was made to understand previously that the office of the Chancellor was made aware of Sukul’s disbarment on February 14 and asked for his immediate resignation.
Justice Singh told Stabroek News that due to the brevity of Justice Sukul’s term as a Justice in the Court of Appeal he may not be eligible for pension or other payments. He noted that for benefits payable by the State the Accountant General would need to provide that information.
The Chancellor remain-ed mum on any background checks that would have been conducted prior to Justice Sukul’s appointment last week. He noted that the JSC was not open to discussion on the methodologies by which it operates.
Meanwhile, Justice Sukul in an email response to Stabroek News stated that “contrary to common speculation, nothing, absolutely nothing, no feature of my conduct can ever be deemed fairly, to be unethical.”
Justice Sukul did not respond to the Stabroek News’ question on when he would have been made aware he was being investigated by the Bar Council nor did he offer any comment on his eligibility for any fiscal entitlements inclusive of his pension.
He stated that “The Bar Council of England & Wales has so wrongfully created a major upheaval in my native land. Take it from me, they are being attended to lawfully”. The decision by the Bar Standards Council is open to appeal.
On February 3, 2014 The Bar Standards Council disbarred Sukul for intentionally misleading his client by drafting false grounds of appeal in a drugs case in 2012.
