Former Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran will have to wait a little while longer before he receives his compensation from the State over being wrongfully dismissed by the Government in December 2015.
In late June, High Court Judge Devindra Rampersad upheld Rambarran’s lawsuit against the Office of the Attorney General, as he ruled the termination of the appointment on the advice of Finance Minister Colm Imbert was “seriously flawed.”
Rampersad ruled that Rambarran’s constitutional rights to protection of the law and to a fair hearing, in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice, were breached and that the decision was illegal, null and void.
Although Rampersad ordered that Rambarran be paid the compensation he would have received if his contract was not terminated before it was due to end in July 2017, he did not quantify it, as he ordered that it be calculated by the Central Bank, inclusive of income tax and statutory deductions.
During a virtual hearing before Rampersad on Thursday, Rambarran’s lawyer Anand Ramlogan, SC, pointed out that although the Central Bank complied with the order, it requested that the documents not be disclosed to lawyers for Rambarran and the AG’s Office unless they agreed to keep them confidential.
Ramlogan pointed out that the request was made informally and should not be considered without an official application being filed.
He also questioned the rationale for the Central Bank to make the secrecy request under the Central Bank Act, as he noted the information would not prejudice its operations.
Ramlogan also called on Rampersad to not delay in deciding on the compensation, as he said it could be included in the State’s appeal over the judgment in the case.
Rampersad agreed with Ramlogan’s submissions, as he too questioned why the Central Bank’s lawyers were not present.
“I am a little concerned and surprised that they (Central Bank lawyers) are not here today out of courtesy...They asked the court to do something and did not even show up to justify why it should do so,” Justice Rampersad said.
Rampersad gave the parties deadlines to file submissions on the compensation assessment done by the Central Bank and stated that he would give his decision when the 2022/2023 Law Term opens next month.
Rambarran was appointed Central Bank Governor in July 2012 and his contract was terminated in December 2015.
The decision came shortly after Rambarran announced that T&T was in a recession and companies that were the biggest foreign exchange users in the country.
In his constitutional claim, he was contending that the government unlawfully revoked his appointment in breach of his constitutional right to due process and fairness. He also contended that he was hounded out of office as part of a political conspiracy.
In his judgement, Justice Rampersad ruled that if there were concerns that Rambarran’s alleged conduct was in breach of aspects of the Central Bank Act and Financial Institutions Act, both had provisions for criminal charges to be laid which Rambarran would have had to defend before a magistrate.
“Parliament intended that if there was a breach of either of the acts that there was a remedy to deal with that breach,” he said, as he noted that Imbert did not reveal the full reasons for his recommendation.
As part of his claim, Rambarran was seeking additional compensation for losing out on a position as a senior advisor to the G-24 Secretariat based in Washington DC.
While Rampersad ruled Imbert acted unfairly when he forwarded the press release over the revocation of Rambarran’s appointment to the official recruiting him, he noted that Rambarran was not entitled to additional compensation, as he applied for the post during the period he will be compensated for based on the lawsuit.
Although Rambarran was seeking significant vindicatory damages, as he claimed he suffered psychological effects over what transpired, Justice Rampersad only ordered $175,000, as he noted that his (Rambarran) medical expert could not prove the condition she treated in 2016 was directly caused by such.