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still are, not in a position to prove that he has over accepted a bribo. They could not, at any time prior to his departure, have charged him with an offence under sections 3 or 4 of the Ordinance. It was section 10, or nothing; and they were
powerless to arrest him prior to 11th June - i.e. upon the expiry of the 7 days which he was allowed by the Attorney
General's letter.
Ir. Hobley said to me in evidence:-
"During that week commencing on 4th June, I never felt so frustrated in my life." I can well understand that. He could not possibly write to
Godber and say:
"I do not care what the law says, or what you
may say. In the light of all the evidence now before me, I have decided that you must tell your story to the judge. So, I am cancelling my letter of 4th June, and I have told the police that, so far as I am concerned, they are at liberty to arrest you as soon as they like"!
It has been suggested that the Attorney General
should have fixed some lesser period than 7 days. I do not think that there is anything in that argument. After all, the police had shown that Godber was in possession of tremendous financial resources. If the law says that a suspect must be given an opportunity of explaining, the suspect can argue (and with a grain of reason) that the more resources one has, the more time one needs to concoct one's explanation. Tuesday 5th June
was the Dragon Boat Festival. Godber was legally represented. It was essential that Ir. Gunston should be given copies of all
documents seized. Photostating of the documents took time; and it was not possible to give copies to Mr. Gunston till the afternoon of Wednesday 6th June. The word "opportunity" in section 10(2) must mean reasonable opportunity. That is the way Mr. Hobley interpreted the section; and I see no reason to differ from him.
I shall, in due course, be reviewing the Ordinance as a whole in accordance with my second term of reference; but I strongly recommend now that sub-section (2) of section 10, as it stands at present, be repealed.
it serves no useful purpose of any kind.
So far as I can see,
It is no argument at all