Red House lease revocation challenge to come up for hearing next week

The legal challenge to President David Granger’s revocation of the 99-year Red House lease, by its occupant, the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre Inc (CJRCI), is slated to be heard next week Tuesday at the Supreme Court.
The case has been before the courts over the past 13 months following the Head of State’s eviction order. It was recently disclosed via notice that the matter is fixed for hearing before acting Chief Justice Roxane George, SC, wherein counsel for the plaintiff, Anil Nandlall and Attorney General (AG) Basil Williams, the named defendant, were both listed to appear.

Since March 2017 then acting Chief Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards had ruled that the High Court has jurisdiction to hear the Red House lease revocation matter. In the prior month, the Attorney General had presented arguments which supported his claim that the court had jurisdiction over the case since the lease was revoked by President Granger. Williams had also noted that no civil action could be brought against the Head of State if he executed the functions of his office, under Article 182 of the Constitution. However, the court had ruled that while the President himself was immune from legal suits, his actions were not.
This determination was highlighted in the aftermath of an injunction that prevented President Granger from evicting the occupant. In late December, he gave the occupant of Red House 48 hours to vacate the premises, a move which Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had described as “unconscionable and vindictive”.
At that point, the move was not in isolation as a ‘back-and-forth’ erupted between the coalition Government and the occupant. The Research Centre was established in 1999 to promote research into and publish materials on the life, work and ideas of late President Dr Cheddi Jagan. The prime land on which Red House sits was leased to the CJRCI for 99 years for G$12,000 per year. Former People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) General Secretary Donald Ramotar had disclosed that he approved the lease in his capacity as President of Guyana. He was President from 2011 to 2015.
The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) coalition Administration was initially adverse to the small fee being charged and had started engaging the directors of the Research Centre on the possibility of transforming the Red House into a hub for all former Presidents.
The Management Committee, which included former President Ramotar, had strongly objected to this move, and told the Government to find independent sites for the establishment of similar research centres for the other Guyanese leaders.
Ramotar had posited that former Presidents Desmond Hoyte and Forbes Burnham never shared the same ideology and philosophy of Dr Jagan and contended, therefore, it would be a “total dishonour” for Red House to be converted into a depository for all past Presidents. It was subsequent to these comments that AG Williams opined that the lease was invalid, after which President Granger moved to revoke the said lease.
The Attorney General had expressed statements to the effect that the lease was not executed in accordance with Section 13 of the Deeds Registry Act but his predecessor, Nandlall, had, however, reasoned that a leasehold interest is “property” in law.