A senior public servant has been given the green light to sue the Cabinet over its almost three-month delay in appointing members of the Statutory Authorities Service Commission (SASC).
Last Friday, High Court Judge Carol Gobin granted Michael Jogee leave to pursue his judicial review case over the delay, which he claims is hampering the commission’s ability to confirm his secondment to serve as a director of the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB).
As part of her decision, Justice Gobin deemed Jogee’s case fit for urgent and expedited hearing during the Judiciary’s ongoing vacation period.
According to his court filings, obtained by Guardian Media, Jogee, who is currently acting as an senior administrative officer in the Immigration Division of the Ministry of National Security, was appointed to the substantive position of cadet force officer in the ministry’s Cadet Force Division in July 2019.
His lawyers stated that between February 2017 and December 2020, he served as NLCB director, having received eight consecutive appointments from the SASC.
In May, this year, Jogee wrote to the SASC expressing his interest to serve on the NLCB board. He claimed that the ministry’s permanent secretary then verbally informed him that the SASC had proposed that he be appointed on secondment for a period of six months in the first instance and that he would be released to facilitate his assumption of duties at the NLCB.
Jogie claimed that he received a response from the SASC stating that his secondment could not be confirmed, as a new commission had not been appointed after the last commission’s term expired in May.
The commission performs human resource functions for statutory authorities, including the borough and city corporations, the Agriculture and Zoological Societies, several children’s homes and the NLCB.
In the case, Jogee’s lawyers claim that he is being seriously prejudiced by the delay in appointing a new commission.
“The absence of a commission affects all officers that fall under the jurisdiction of the commission which is mandated to deal with issues pertaining to appointment, promotion, transfer and discipline in the various statutory authorities that fall under its jurisdiction,” his lawyer Ganesh Saroop said.
In his application to deem the case urgent, Saroop claimed that the delay is illegal and amounts to a breach of the rule of law. He also claimed that his client’s constitutional rights to protection of the law and equality of treatment were possibly breached.
Through the lawsuit, Jogee is seeking a declaration that the inaction is illegal and an order compelling the appointment of the new commission.
Jogee is also represented by Anand Ramlogan, SC, Kent Samlal, Jayanti Lutchmedial, Gary Ramkissoon and Natasha Bisram.
Public Services Association president Leroy Baptiste cited Jogee’s case in a press release on Thursday, as he claimed that the PSA had pursued it in Jogee’s name, as it was concerned over an alleged attempt by the Ministry of Finance to give the position to a consultant, who it claimed already provides services to the NLCB.
“Having created this void, the Government has seized the window of opportunity to steal a march on the workers and members of the PSA by moving illegally to appoint a non-public officer to run the NLCB,” Baptiste said.
“In other words, the Government, by its inaction, created a constitutional crisis which it is now using to bypass the independent commission to take advantage of the rights of innocent workers.”
Baptiste also referred to another case in which the PSA, through customs officer Terissa Dhoray, is challenging the constitutional validity of the T&T Revenue Act, which seeks to replace the Customs and Excise Division and the Board of Inland Revenue with the T&T Revenue Authority. He claimed that the legislation breaches the constitution as it affects the rights of public officers.
“The Act ultimately places the reins of power into the hands of the Minister of Finance such that he is vested with the authority to directly appoint employees of the authority or via the Board of Management which is appointed by the said minister,” Baptiste said.
“This is a dangerous development in a politically charged and fragmented society such as ours and hence the PSA has filed this historic claim in the public interest for the protection of the workers,” he added.
Baptiste said he intends to lead by example by personally giving evidence in both cases.
“The PSA will not stand idly by and allow the Government to trample on the rights of workers. We demand justice, equity and accountability,” he said.