Magistrate loses defamation suit against DPP

High Court judge Navindra Singh on Tuesday threw out a $50 million lawsuit filed by Magistrate Alex Moore against Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack SC, whom he had accused of defaming him.

Dismissing the claim, Justice Singh found, among other things, that the DPP was entitled to the defence of qualified privilege as a letter she wrote, which was the basis of Moore’s complaint, had been written in her professional capacity, for which she is protected under the law.

The magistrate has now incurred a debt of $200,000, which the judge has ordered him to pay to Ali-Hack by Christmas Eve.