News Source Guyana Reports : By a majority decision, the Full Court has dismissed the appeal by Demerara Bank in the case of the bank closing the accounts of a number of candidates of the WIN party.
The High Court had earlier ruled that there was an established case against the Bank and that the Bank should file a defence. The Bank had appealed that ruling to the Full Court.
WIN candidates Gobin Harbhajan, Denodra Park, Dexter George, Joel Ramesh, Lester Benjamina, and Denitta Parks had instituted proceedings in the High Court seeking declarations and orders against Demerara Bank for the closure of their bank accounts.
The Bank did not file a defence, but instead filed a Notice of Application asking for the case to be struck off the roll on the basis that it discloses no cause of action or reasonable ground for bringing the claim.
The Full Court agreed with the High Court ruling that the application filed by the WIN candidates discloses an arguable cause of action and that there was reasonable ground for bringing the claim.
“In addition, upon considering the submissions before the Trial Judge, this court is of the view that the Appellant’s route to challenge the FDA, by applying to strike out same has protracted the determination of the FDA. Moreover, considering the issues raised, and the points taken before the trial judge, an Affidavit in Defence ought to have been filed and substantive FDA dealt with by the trial judge on its merits,” Justices Niles and Kumar-Cheddy said in their ruling.
The Court also found that the Bank’s submissions in their challenge to strike out the claim, and the issues raised ought to be properly canvassed in an Affidavit of Defence.
As a result, the Court has ordered the Bank to submit an affidavit in defence to the challenge on or before May 21 and pay $100,000 to each of the respondents.
A three-judge panel consisting of Acting Chief Justice Navendra Singh and Justices Nigel Niles and Deborah Kumar-Chetty heard the appeal. The appeal was dismissed in the decision of Justices Niles and Kumar-Chetty, while a dissenting ruling was offered by the Acting Chief Justice.
In the lead up to the September 2025 national elections, Demerara Bank and a number of other banks had moved to close the accounts of candidates of the WIN party, without offering any explanation.
The Leader of the WIN party is billionaire businessman Azruddin Mohamed, who was sanctioned by the US Government along with his father in 2024.
The Full Court’s decision represents a significant ruling requiring the Bank to properly defend its actions in court rather than attempting to have the case dismissed at an early stage.
