Rajendra Chaudhry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rajendra P.S. Chaudhry is an Indo-Fijian lawyer, former civil servant, and potential parliamentary candidate. He is best-known as the son of Mahendra Chaudhry, leader of the Fiji Labour Party who was deposed as Prime Minister in the Fiji coup of 2000. Rajendra Chaudhry, who was his father's personal secretary at the time, was kidnapped along with most of his father's government and held as a hostage for 56 days by gunmen connected with George Speight, the instigator of the coup.
On 15 August 2005, Chaudhry announced that he was suing the government for F$500,000 for the loss of superannuation, income, and future earnings, what he says was caused by military and police negligence. The security forces, he alleges, knew that a coup was likely and did nothing to prevent it. "As a result of their negligence, I had to endure physical torture and psychological trauma and am seeking compensation for these and related matters," he said.
On 13 September 2005, police announced that they were investigating a complaint against Chaudhry made by Lalesh Shankar, an employee of the ruling United Fiji Party (SDL). Shankar claimed that Chaudhry had verbally abused him. Chaudhry denied this, saying that what really happened was that a friend who had accompanied him had asked Shankar, an Indo-Fijian, how he could work for a party that was so anti Indian and racist in its policies. According to Chaudhry, Shankar had demanded an apology, and had called the police when his friend refused. Chaudhry himself had not been personally involved, he said.
Chaudhry was admitted to the bar as a lawyer on 30 September 2005, by Chief Justice Daniel Fatiaki. He has since become a partner with Senator Anand Singh in the Chaudhry and Singh law firm. He has since appeared in several high profile cases with the most prominent being the writ by the Opposition Leader against the Prime Minister for defamation. He also acts pro bono for many of his clients who cannot afford legal representation.
On 27 December 2005, the Fiji Live news service quoted Chaudhry as saying that he would stand for parliamentary elections if endorsed by the Fiji Labour Party in the general election scheduled for 2006.
