By FRANCIS JOSEPH
Mystery still surrounds how a Merit List sent by the Chairman of the Police Service Commission to the President in 2021, ended up being withdrawn.
That list had Gary Griffith at the top for a second term as Commissioner of Police. When the list was withdrawn under mysterious circumstances, it ended his chances of a second term as Commissioner of Police.
Griffith decided to take the matter to court and on Wednesday, he was awarded $250,000 in damages.
In the judgment, Justice Kevin Ramcharan ruled that then Commission Chairman, Bliss Seepersad acted outside her authority and ordered her to pay Griffith $250,000 in damages for injury to his reputation.
The award includes an uplift for aggravated damages. Seepersad was also ordered to pay interest at 2.5 per cent per annum from the date the claim was filed and Griffith’s costs on the prescribed scale.
However, while finding that Seepersad’s actions had damaged Griffith’s reputation, Justice Ramcharan rejected his claim for damages for the loss of an opportunity to be reappointed Commissioner of Police.
Justice Ramcharan found that Griffith had failed to establish that he suffered financial loss, concluding that it was more likely than not that his appointment would not have been ratified by Parliament.
Griffith, who was represented by senior counsel Larry Lalla SC and attorneys Taruna Mangroo and Nicholas Persad, had been placed at the top of an Order of Merit List prepared by the Police Service Commission and the list was delivered to then President Paula-Mae Weekes on August 11, 2021.
But shortly afterwards, Seepersad was informed by then Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, in his capacity as chairman of the National Security Council, about the existence of a report containing allegations which could affect the selection process.
Seepersad subsequently retrieved the list.
Justice Ramcharan found that the Police Service Commission could, in appropriate circumstances, withdraw an Order of Merit List. He accepted that, given the information which had reached Seepersad after the list had been submitted, she was justified in retrieving it without first obtaining the Commission’s approval.
In response to the ruling, Griffith said, “It is a damning indictment of the abuse of public office and the circumstances surrounding one of the most disgraceful episodes in the history of Trinidad and Tobago’s constitutional institutions.”
He continued, “But let us not forget who actually set this into motion. This is why former Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley must be made to answer for his role in this extraordinary affair.”
Griffth continued, “Not even the most hardcore supporter can argue that President’s House was established to function as a post office or private meeting room for political interference in independent constitutional processes.
“This is why, former President Paula-Mae Weekes must also explain her decision first of all have the meeting at President’s House and secondly to return the Merit List rather than allow the constitutionally prescribed process to proceed. In my view, that decision represented a monumental failure of judgment that brought unnecessary embarrassment to the Office of the President.”
Griffith said the court has confirmed that Seepersad, had no authority to act as though she alone constituted the entire Police Service Commission.
He added, “The consequences of her actions were devastating. The Police Service Commission was plunged into crisis, its members ultimately resigned, the leadership of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service was destabilised, and the country was deprived of the opportunity for continuity in police leadership at a critical time in our nation’s fight against crime.”
