Delivering a decision, yesterday, Justice Frank Seepersad dismissed an application from the T&T Cadet Force and the Office of the Attorney General to strike out the judicial review lawsuit brought by Hamlyn Dipnarine.
In February, Dipnarine, through his lawyers Arden Williams and Mariah Ramrattan, filed the case alleging that he was unfairly and unlawfully bypassed for promotion to the rank of Major.
Dipnarine was granted leave to pursue the case after Justice Seepersad ruled that he had raised arguable grounds with a reasonable prospect of success at an eventual trial.
The defendants filed an application complaining that Dipnarine should not be allowed to continue the case as he delayed in filing it, had alternative redress and did not raise special or exceptional circumstances.
Justice Seepersad rejected claims that Dipnarine was required to file the case three months after September 2022, when he claimed he should have been promoted in accordance with the provisions of the Cadet Force Act.
He noted that the timeline only began when the decision not to promote him was officially communicated in October, last year.
“The impugned decision or omission which the Claimant has sought to challenge cannot be premised upon his subjective view as to when he believed his promotion should have been effected and time would have commenced when the decision not to promote him was effected,” Justice Seepersad said.
Justice Seepersad also stated that Dipnarine should not be precluded from pursuing the case based on the T&T Cadet Force Standing Orders.
Under Standing Order 12(3), officers aggrieved following the results of promotion exercises are required to appeal to the Commandant, the Cadet Force Advisory Committee, and then to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of National Security.
Justice Seepersad noted that Dipnarine did not obtain any redress and assistance after he made an informal complaint to the Commandant.
“This Court finds that in the circumstances of this case, the purported alternative remedy established by Standing Order 12(3) was neither convenient, beneficial or practically available to the Claimant,” he said.
Justice Seepersad also rejected claims that Dipnarine had not established exceptional circumstances.
Stating that the T&T Cadet Force plays a key role in national security, Justice Seepersad said: “Issues touching and concerning the criteria for promotions to particular posts in that body are therefore of grave public concern.”
“Without the establishment and oversight in the application of such criteria, there is the deleterious potential of promotions taking place within the Cadet Force which reek of arbitrariness and/or unfairness,” he said.
He said the court had an obligation to fiercely defend the rule of law and insist upon the adherence to due process and administrative regularity.
“Good administration is essential if productivity and performance are prioritised and it is imperative that due process should always prevail,” he said.
The Cadet Force and the AG’s Office were represented by Natoya Moore, Raquel Le Blanc, Savitri Maharaj, and Nakita Ali.