Appeal Court temporarily halts Caricel shutdown

The Court of Appeal has temporarily halted the shutdown of telecommunication company Caricel.

In a ruling handed down today, the court gave Caricel’s parent company Symbiote Investment Limited, the go-ahead to challenge a decision by the Supreme Court to refuse its request for leave to seek judicial review of the government’s decision to revoke Caricel's telecommunications licences.

"The Court of Appeal also made an order staying the implementation of the minister’s revocation order until the 14th of January," Patrick Bailey, one of the attorneys for Caricel, said in a statement.

Lawyers for the government and Caricel are scheduled to appear before the Court of Appeal on January 14 for a hearing on whether the company’s application for leave should be allowed.

Following the ruling by the Supreme Court nearly two weeks ago, Attorney General Marlene Malahoo-Forte announced that the government was moving to complete the process of revoking Caricel’s telecommunications licence.

The Supreme Court also rejected an application from Symbiote's lawyers to appeal the ruling.

They are arguing that the revocation of the licence is plainly catastrophic for the licensee.

"The company’s investment, worth over $9 billion, has been placed in danger because of an alleged failure to disclose information concerning the signatories on a bank specimen signature card," the company said.

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