"Using State funds is a case of abuse. He should not have used it and nothing will change that fact. Abuse is abuse," Chaudhry said on 12 September. The same day, National Alliance Party Secretary Filipe Bole said the court's decision was improper. He endorsed the judgement of Auditor-General Eroni Vatuloka that state entitlements were for the purpose of fulfilling civil service duties, and were not transferable to others. He also shared Vatuloka's concerns that the judgement would adversely impact other court cases involving misappropriation of funds. Also on 12 September, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions announced that the ruling would be appealed, as Opposition Leader Chaudhry had urged. The appeal was duly filed with the Court of Appeal on 12 April 2006. Lawyer Hemendra Nagin announced that he would represent Raj at the appeal, expected to be held in July. Other controversies On 10 August 2005, Parliamentarian Lekh Ram Vayeshnoi of the opposition Fiji Labour Party accused Raj of cheating farmers in Ra Province of their sugarcane earnings by offering them loans. Raj denied the accusation, and invoked parliamentary standing orders. He said that most of the farmers he had helped were indigenous Fijians, and that many had increased their production from 50 tons to 200 or 300 tons. Background and career Raj was first elected to represent the Ra Open Constituency in the House of Representatives as an independent candidate at the 1999 general election. He was appointed Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs in the interim Cabinet that was formed in the wake of the Fiji coup of 2000, and retained his seat as a candidate of the newly formed Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) in the election held to restore democracy in September 2001. Raj generated outrage among his fellow Indo-Fijians in his Maiden speech (the speech typically made by a newly elected parliamentarian in Commonwealth countries). He said that Fiji had been given to the Fijian people by God and that they, not Indo-Fijians or others, were therefore entitled to govern the country. Many saw him as grovelling before the strongly pro-ethnic Fijian Qarase. Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua politicians Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Living people Government ministers of Fiji Politicians from Ra Province Fijian politicians of Indian descent Year of birth missing (living people)