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The lawyer for convicted former Fiji town clerk Jaswant Kumar has pointed to the media attention surrounding the case while making a bail application for his client sentenced to 12 months imprisonment early this month.
Rajendra Chaudhry said that insufficient direction was given to the assessors about media reports concerning the case.
Chaudhry said the case carried political connotations that made it incumbent for the judge to give firm directions to the assessors about the influence of the media.
He said the crux of his submission was that his client had been convicted of a felony for “gaining from the abuse of his office” when in fact the prosecution had not charged for abuse of office for gain and had no evidence to prove it either.
Chaudhry said that in essence, Kumar had been sentenced to for a harsher penalty which he classified as a misdemeanor and not a felony which Kumar was convicted of.
He said that if the prosecution had lead with the element of personal gain then he believed that the trial would have been different.
The matter has been adjourned for ruling at 4pm on March 26, 2010.
