Appeal Court: PSC can suspend officers without hearing

THE Public Service Commission (PSC) has the power to direct that a public officer cease reporting for duty once it becomes aware of any act of indiscipline or misconduct to protect the reputation of the public service.

And, since the PSC has that power, there is no right of the suspended officer to be heard at this preliminary stage considered by the commission to be the “awareness stage.”

This was the ruling of the Court of Appeal on Tuesday which reversed a decision of the High Court in a challenge brought by Prison Officer's Association (POA) president Ceron Richards.

In 2017, Justice Ricky Rahim ruled that the PSC acted illegally and irrationally when they decided to suspend Richards, one year earlier, pending the outcome of a misconduct investigation in which it was alleged that he was careless by leaving a Prison Service issued pistol and ammunition unattended.

Richards had reported that after securing his firearm in a safe at his home on March 10, 2016 and returned the following day to find it and two loaded magazines stolen. Nothing else in his Barataria apartment was stolen. He reported the matter to the Barataria Police Station.

Rahim quashed the decision of the PSC to suspend Richards and before the commission’s appeal came up for hearing, it was lifted and the allegations against him were withdrawn.

The appeal proceeded so that the issues of law could be decided on.

In their ruling, Justices of Appeal Gregory Smith, Prakash Moosai and Peter Rajkumar held that the decision of the PSC to suspend Richards was not ultra vires and reversed Rahim’s orders as they upheld the PSC’s appeal.

Richards was also ordered to pay two-thirds of the commission’s legal costs of the appeal.

The PSC was represented by Senior Counsel Russell Martineau while Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and Kingsly Walesby represented Richards.