Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang yesterday discharged an order he granted to former Chief Election Officer Gocool Boodoo to block the Chairman and Members of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) from deciding against renewal of his contract.
The Order was to prevent GECOM from making a decision not to renew Boodoo’s without following the procedure that the Commission has established for renewal of contracts for senior employees.
Justice Chang, based on what Stabroek News was told by attorneys with interest in the matter, said yesterday that the order should be granted against GECOM as a whole and not the individual commissioners since they have all sought to represent themselves in the matter when they represented one body. This, they said, meant that court would have to hear from all of them.
Boodoo had filed a Notice of Motion on June 28, days before the GECOM Commissioners were to meet to discuss his contract.
In the writ, Chairman of GECOM Dr. Steve Surujbally and Commissioners Mahmood Shaw, Keshav Mangal, Jaya Manickchand, Vincent Alexander, Charles Corbin and Sandra Jones are named as respondents.
Most of the respondents were represented at yesterday’s scheduled hearing.
Shortly after the hearing began and while attorney Sase Gunraj, who is on record for Boodoo, stood to address the court, Justice Chang said that he was going to discharge the Order he had granted on July 2.
Gunraj in an invited comment told this newspaper that he was rather surprised by the ruling as he had turned up with the impression that the issue of an affidavit in answer would have been addressed.
He said that he intends to analyse the situation and decide whether to re-file the matter.
Attorney Nigel Hughes, who turned up to enter an appearance for one of the commissioners, told this newspaper that a judge has the power to review what he had granted. He said that yesterday’s ruling brings an end to the proceedings.
Boodoo’s move to the court followed a plan by the opposition-nominated commissioners on GECOM not to renew his contract over their dissatisfaction with his performance on the day the official results of the November 2011 general election were announced. His employment has been the subject of discussion at a series of GECOM meetings.
Prior to the High Court proceedings, attorney Murseline Bacchus had GECOM, calling on it not to conclude its deliberation on whether Boodoo’s contract is renewed until his performance appraisals for 2012 and 2013 were completed.
The letter, which was dated June 6, 2013 and addressed to Surujbally, stated that Boodoo was denied due process.
Bacchus said that in accordance with Boodoo’s last contract from 2010 to 2013, a performance appraisal is to be completed and this should form the only basis on which the work of the CEO shall be measured.
The attorney said that this annual performance appraisal was never done in respect of the 2010 to 2013 contract and that no reason has been proffered for the situation.
In the Originating Notice of Motion, Boodoo sought an Order directed to the Chairman and Commissioners of GECOM to show why they have not renewed his contract which came to an end on April 30, 2013 and to thereby quash the decision not to automatically renew the contract on the grounds that the decision taken not to automatically renew the contract is being made in bad faith, undermining and interfering with the applicant’s constitutional right to work in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
Boodoo, who said that it is a legitimate expectation that his contract is renewed, sought an Order of Mandamus directed to the Chairman and Commissioners of GECOM to renew the contract on the grounds that they must comply with the procedure that the Commission has established over the years when renewing contracts for senior employees.
He also sought an Order of Prohibition to prevent the Chairman and Commissioners of GECOM from making a decision not to renew Boodoo’s contract without following the procedure.
Boodoo sought the Orders on the grounds that his constitutional right to work is being denied by the Chairman and Commissioners of GECOM in an unfair and unjust manner.
