They were replying to attorney-at-law, Mr Basil Williams, counsel for the Petitioner Mrs Maria Benschop who had petitioned the court for bail on behalf of her husband, Mark Benschop, who is facing a joint charge with Phillip Bynoe for treason.

Williams, among other things, had submitted to trial judge Mr Jainarayan Singh, that the offence of treason is bailable.

He had also cited Section 87 of the Criminal Law Procedure Act and Archbold in support of his contention that the judge has a discretion to grant bail for murder and treason, depending on circumstances, such as those in the current case.

But Nandlall, in his address, submitted that bail could only be granted for murder and treason in special circumstances, and declared that the defence had not adduced any special circumstance upon which they wish to rely for the granting of bail.

In his reply, Williams accused the Prosecution of attempting to mislead the court when they pointed out to the judge that Section 87 could not be used for the granting of bail in the manner as advocated by the defence.

Williams, who will continue his reply when the hearing resumes Thursday afternoon, submitted that the prosecution misinterpreted the law and did not appreciate the difference between pre-trial liberty and post-conviction liberty.

According to him, the Prosecution would have been right if Benschop had been committed to stand trial and was applying for bail.

But he noted that Benschop's Inquiry is still continuing and all that the petitioner is asking for is pre-trial liberty.

Earlier in his address, Datadin, leading prosecuting counsel, had urged Justice Singh to find that the law precludes accused persons from applying to the High Court for bail in offences like treason, where the Magistrate does not have the authority to grant bail.

He was replying to Williams, who had asked the judge to conclude that a High Court judge had the discretion to grant bail for treason under Section 87 of the Criminal Law Procedure Act, Chapter 10:01.

Maria Benschop is petitioning for the pre-trial liberty of her husband who has been charged jointly with Bynoe for treason allegedly committed between Saturday 1st June, and Wednesday 3rd June, 2002 at Georgetown.

Mark Benschop is a remand prisoner, currently facing a preliminary hearing, while Bynoe is still on the run.

Reacting to the claim by Williams that Benschop was entitled to bail under Section 87, Datadin cited the law in relation to preliminary arrangements to show that Section 87 only empowers a judge to grant bail to persons who are entitled to be bailed by a magistrate and had been refused bail by the lower court.

According to him, in instances, where a magistrate does not have the right or authority to grant bail for murder and treason, offenders are not entitled to seek pre-trial liberty from the High Court.

Before they could move to the High Court, it must be proved that the Magistrate has authority to grant bail and that bail was refused by him, Datadin stressed.