PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

A Magistrate court Monday dismissed the charge of perverting the course of public justice against Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma after the prosecution said it no longer wished to pursue the case.

Before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls, the state's main witness in the case against Sharma could take the oath, prosecutor Gilbert Peterson, S.C., said that the State wanted to end the criminal prosecution against Sharma, who holds the highest judicial office in Trinidad and Tobago.

"Having regard to the position indicated to us by this particular witness, we have decided to adopt a particular position. We are not proceeding any further with this prosecution. We are asking that this matter be discharged," he told the court.

A startled Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim then told the Chief Justice, "Mr. Sharma, the prosecution is not offering any evidence in this matter. You are discharged".

The Chief Justice, wearing a grey suit with a green handkerchief tucked in its breast pocket, rose to his feet and left the prisoner's dock and a stunned packed court room.

Prosecution not over

Sharma told reporters as he left the court that he felt his prosecution was far from over and that he had done nothing wrong for which he ought to be vindicated.

Sharma was accused of seeking to influence McNicolls during the trial of former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday who was convicted last year on charges of failing to declare a London bank account to the Integrity Commission.

Panday, who was given a two-year jail term to run concurrently on the three charges, has since appealed the conviction and is on TT$300,000 (US$50,000) bail.

In an immediate reaction to the court case, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) called for the "immediate resignation" of McNicholls "on the basis of what has transpired today".

The brief statement signed by CBA vice-president Nizam Mohammed also called for the "immediate re-instatement of the Chief Justice".