Lawyer says COVID Monitoring Unit acting outside of its powers Article by April 17, 2021 The office of the Director of Public Prosecution today withdrew a COVID-19 court case described as a “nullity” by a Magistrate and then re-lodged it. As a result, shopkeepers Emma Ann Abrahim and Churaman Veerandra entered a fresh not guilty plea to the charge that they opened their business when it was supposed to be closed under the curfew directives. The offence allegedly occurred on February 8. In the previous case, the two, who were initially unrepresented by legal counsel, had pleaded guilty and were remanded for 25 days pending sentencing. They were then granted bail by the High Court following an application by Michael Lashley Q.C., who was then retained.