Meanwhile, High Court Justice Jiten Singh ruled on 14 October that an earlier decision of the Ministry of Finance to surcharge Commodore Bainimarama for blowing his 2003 budget was unconstitutional, and ordered the Minister to pay F$800 to cover Bainimarama's court costs. In July 2004, the Ministry had accused the Commander of overspending by a total of F$116,379.95, and announced on 13 January that he would be required to repay F$49,590.11 of it. The money would be recovered by docking his salary by F$300 every fortnight.