THE Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling of the High Court in favour of former member of the Industrial Court Sam Maharaj, who was awarded more than $3 million in compensation for distress, inconvenience and pecuniary loss over the refusal of the Patrick Manning cabinet to renew his contract in 2000.

Justices of Appeal Gillian Lucky, Mira Dean-Armourer and Carla Brown-Antoine dismissed the appeal filed by the State against a 2019 ruling of Justice Frank Seepersad. A cross-appeal filed by Maharaj was also dismissed.

In a written decision in February 2019, in which he called for a review of the way appointments and re-appointments are made to that court, Seepersad ordered compensation for Maharaj of $3.17 million.