The Equal Opportunity Tribunal (EOT) clarifies that attorney Veera Bhajan has been continuously serving as a Lay Assessor since November 2021, even as her court case and subsequent appeal rolled through the courts.
The Court of Appeal ruled "the Applicant’s right of the use and enjoyment of her property and not to be deprived of due process of the law (section 4(a) has been violated and breached."
"The recent ruling by the Court of Appeal does not alter her existing status in any form," the EOT said in a statement in response to a Guardian Media article which said Bhajan would have to be reinstated.
Her first term ended in March 2024. Bhajan confirmed to Guardian Media she was actively working following the High Court judge's 2021 ruling that she placed on the job and paid her salary. She was then reappointed last March by President Christine Kangaloo, continuing to work pending the chairman's appeal.
The EOT said Bhajan has received full remuneration and benefits throughout her first term and continues to serve under the terms of the 100th Report of the Salary Review Commission.
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeal ruled in her favour and dismissed the appeal brought by Donna Prowell-Raphael, Chairman of the Equal Opportunity Tribunal.
The judges upheld the High Court’s decision that Bhajan was wrongfully prevented from assuming her role as a lay-assessor at the Tribunal and ruled that the Chairman acted outside her authority. The Court found that Bhajan was validly appointed and that the Chairman had no authority to block her appointment. The judges agreed that the Chairman’s actions were illegal, an abuse of power, and contrary to the Equal Opportunity Act.
