Ajay Chattradhari Daby (अजय छट्रधारी द॓बी) is a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and the former

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the Legislative Assembly of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

from 1983 to 1990. He did his secondary schooling at the

Royal College of Curepipe The Royal College Curepipe (commonly known as RCC) is a public secondary school with high admission standards in Curepipe, Mauritius. Since 1791 it has been regarded as one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Mauritius. In the past, ...

. Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1978, Ajay Daby studied in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and is a member of The Honourable Society of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He is married to Geeta Prayag, a laureate of the Queen Elizabeth College and doctor from the

Sheffield University , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

. Daby started his legal career as a private legal practitioner before joining the State Law Office as State

Prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

, but only for a very brief period. He soon resigned from his post in the Judiciary to join

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

. Elected MP of the PSM in 1982 in Flacq-Bon Acceuil, Constituency No 9 at the age of 26, he became the youngest MP in the country. He was further elected as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Mauritius. In 1983, he was one of the founder members of the

Militant Socialist Movement The Militant Socialist Movement (french: Mouvement Socialiste Militant; abbreviated MSM) is a centre-left political party in Mauritius. It is the largest single political party in the National Assembly of Mauritius, winning 42 of the 69 seats in ...

(MSM). He was in the same year, re-elected MP of Flacq-Bon Acceuil under the banner of the newly created MSM and went on to become the youngest

of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and Association des Parlementaires de Langue Francaise (AIPLF). He was re-elected in Constituency No 11 (Rose-Belle/Vieux Grand Port) and was called upon to take the post of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly yet again. In 1990, on a question of principle, Daby refused to give the

casting vote A casting vote is a vote that someone may exercise to resolve a tied vote in a deliberative body. A casting vote is typically by the presiding officer of a council, legislative body, committee, etc., and may only be exercised to break a deadlock ...

much needed by the then government to change the status of Mauritius to that of a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

and sever ties with the

British Crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

. He voiced his dissent with his leader and party on this question. The MSM - MMM newly formed coalition not having the required three-quarters majority to expel Mr Daby from his Speakership, went ahead to amend the Constitution to enable the removal of the Speaker by a simple majority. On 5 December 1990, the Constitution of Mauritius was amended accordingly. Mr Daby then joined the

Mauritius Labour Party The Labour Party (french: Parti Travailliste, PTr) is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Mauritius. It is one of four main Mauritian political parties along, with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), the Militant Socialist Mov ...

, but for a brief spell only. In 2001, Mr Daby was made Commissioner for Drug Assets Forfeiture under the Government led by

Sir Anerood Jugnauth Sir Anerood Jugnauth, GCSK, PV, (29 March 1930 – 3 June 2021) was a Mauritian politician and barrister who served both as President and Prime Minister of Mauritius. He was Member of Parliament for Piton & Riviere Du Rempart. A central f ...

, and later by

Paul Berenger Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, until 2005, when there was a change of government following

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. Daby is back at the bar and is regularly seen in high-profile cases.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20081119162719/http://www.gov.mu/portal/site/eco/menuitem.37ba32a3c4783128d6c8662948a521ca/?content_id=9259e1aef2158010VgnVCM100000ca6a12acRCRD#Constituency%20No.%209%20-%20Flacq%20and%20Bon%20Accueil * https://web.archive.org/web/20081120075250/http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/mau1982results.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20081119111059/http://www.gov.mu/portal/site/AssemblySite/menuitem.3cd5596e88ffa0451251701065c521ca/?content_id=f7b608bf4b648010VgnVCM100000ca6a12acRCRD {{DEFAULTSORT:Daby, Ajay Speakers of the National Assembly (Mauritius) Members of the National Assembly (Mauritius) Mauritian Hindus Living people 1955 births Militant Socialist Movement politicians 20th-century Mauritian lawyers Mauritian politicians of Indian descent