Prime Minister Ratu Kamisese Mara, in 1979, questioned the independence of Chief Justice Sir Clifford Grant regarding his multiple meetings with the Governor-General.
An article published by The Fiji Times on November 16 that year stated that Ratu Mara raised the issue in reply to questions at the Australian Press Club where he was asked whether he thought he had acted constitutionally in moves for Sir Grant’s replacement by a local judge.
Ratu Mara said questions about the matter put to his office by a local newspaper, the Fiji Sun, were not answered because of the attitude of the questioner.
“At the last press conference, I had asked the representative of the Fiji Sun, ‘Was it a fact that you rang up the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister, you told her that your husband had been tricked by the PM because he knew what was going to happen to Vijay Singh, and he went on leave?’
“Then he asked me if he could have a word later on. I said, ‘Look, the press conference is the forum for discussion. Why don’t you answer now?’
“So, that is the attitude of the person asking those questions. Now, as far as the CJ is concerned, it is still my intention to see that the post of CJ is localised.
“I have written to the Governor-General as a result of my interview with the Governor-General, and I have had two interviews with the Governor-General since.
“It is under the Constitution law, section 79, that I should keep the Governor-General informed of what goes on, and certainly he has been informed on paper, and every Cabinet paper goes up, and whenever he asks for any further explanation, he calls me.
“It has puzzled me why the Chief Justice has taken the question of the independence of the judiciary so much to heart, because I would like him to answer this question:
“When the Governor-General goes on leave, he acts as the Governor-General, and he has not appointed any CJ to act. Where does the independence of the judiciary come in?
“He is the head of both the judiciary and the executive arm, and he has been seeing the Governor-General quite frequently. Is that independence of the judiciary?”
Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. Picture: FILE