A New Grant man has been committed to three days in prison for willfully disobeying a court order to pay damages arising from a 2012 assault and battery claim, despite having the means to do so. Justice Frank Seepersad made the order against Groodial Badal on January 15.

While maintaining that contempt orders must never be used oppressively to punish poverty, he acknowledged that they were justified where a party deliberately refuses to comply with a lawful order. He ruled that Badal’s conduct amounted to willful disobedience and committed him to three days’ simple imprisonment, refusing an application for a stay.

“The dispensation of justice at times necessitates an empathetic approach to the application of the rule of law,” Seepersad said. “However, where there has been willful disobedience and/or an unjustified refusal to obey the terms of a court order despite having the means to do so, the court must protect and preserve its authority and dispassionately apply the full force of the law.”