Sascha Wil­son

A prison of­fi­cer is su­ing the Com­mis­sion­er of Pris­ons for al­leged­ly re­fus­ing to pro­mote him be­cause of his beard.

Ar­shad Singh, act­ing Prison Of­fi­cer 2 at­tached to the Port-of-Spain prison, is con­tend­ing that his beard is based on his re­li­gious be­liefs as a prac­tic­ing Mus­lim.

Ear­li­er this week, Singh was grant­ed leave by Jus­tice Mar­garet Mo­hammed in the San Fer­nan­do High Court to seek ju­di­cial re­view chal­leng­ing the Com­mis­sion­er's fail­ure to pro­mote him.

Singh's At­tor­ney Im­ran Khan is con­tend­ing that the de­ci­sion is against his client's con­sti­tu­tion­al rights and is un­law­ful.

He is ask­ing the court to quash the Com­mis­sion­er's de­ci­sion and or­der that he be pro­mot­ed to the rank of Prison Of­fi­cer 2.