The judge deferred his ruling after hearing closing arguments by counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Basil Williams, who is contending that the offence is bailable and the Court can exercise discretion in the matter.

On the opposite side, other attorneys-at-law Mr. Sanjeev Datadin and Mr. Anil Nandlall argued that, even if the judge can, he could only grant the prisoner pre-trial liberty in special circumstances and counsel for Ben chop has failed to refer to any on which they hope to rely.