Derek Achong

A se­nior po­lice of­fi­cer from To­ba­go, who last month be­gan a law­suit against Po­lice Com­mis­sion­er Gary Grif­fith over his han­dling of pro­mo­tions to the rank of Su­per­in­ten­dent, was among 48 of­fi­cers who were pro­mot­ed by Grif­fith on Fri­day.

Last month, High Court Judge Eleanor Don­ald­son-Hon­ey­well grant­ed act­ing Se­nior Supt Col­lis Hazel, of Rox­bor­ough, To­ba­go, leave to pur­sue his ju­di­cial re­view case against Grif­fith.

In the law­suit, Hazel, who joined the T&T Po­lice Ser­vice (TTPS) in 1991, claimed that af­ter pass­ing the pro­mo­tion ex­am­i­na­tion and in­ter­view with the Pro­mo­tion Ad­vi­so­ry Board, he was placed at num­ber 46 on a mer­it list.

On Sep­tem­ber 4, 2018, the first 45 of­fi­cers were pro­mot­ed.

Hazel claimed that al­though the TTPS agreed to ex­tend the life of the mer­it list to Sep­tem­ber 3, 2020, the de­ci­sion was sub­se­quent­ly re­voked.

In the law­suit, Hazel, who has been giv­en a se­ries of act­ing ap­point­ments, claimed that Grif­fith’s de­ci­sion was un­rea­son­able as it was done with­out any warn­ing or con­sul­ta­tion.

Hazel was seek­ing a de­c­la­ra­tion that the de­ci­sion was un­rea­son­able and an or­der com­pelling Grif­fith to give rea­sons for it.

In a let­ter sent to Hazel’s lawyers af­ter the case was filed, TTPS Di­rec­tor of Le­gal Ser­vices Chris­t­ian Chan­dler claimed that the ex­ten­sion of the mer­it list by the TTPS Hu­man Re­source Branch was an ad­min­is­tra­tive er­ror.

While the TTPS ini­tial stood by the de­ci­sion to cor­rect the er­ror, Hazel and some of his col­leagues, who were wait­ing on the de­ci­sion in his case to chal­lenge their pro­mo­tions, were pro­mot­ed on Fri­day.

A de­ci­sion on how and if the law­suit should pro­ceed will be de­ter­mined at the next hear­ing.

Hazel is be­ing rep­re­sent­ed by Anand Ram­lo­gan, SC, Alvin Pariags­ingh, and Alana Ram­baran.