Former acting Region Three Hospital Administrator Sanjah Persaud, has appealed the decision of Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire, who ruled against his reinstatement, arguing that he had a legitimate right to the post, having acted in the position since 2013.
In a ruling handed down on Wednesday afternoon, the judge noted among other things, that Persaud was not qualified for the post to begin with and never made any efforts to so qualify himself, even during a probationary period.
The court noted that there was no regulation which the Public Service Commission (PSC) or the Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Three was found to have breached by not confirming Persaud in the position he sought.
Against this background, the judge said that the PSC could not and was under no obligation to confirm Persaud to the post.
In an appeal which he has filed, however, Persaud (the appellant), expressing dissatisfaction with the entirety of the Chief Justice’s decision, is seeking to have it reversed or set aside, arguing that it was contrary to law, erroneous and against the weight of the evidence.
According to him, the judge erred and misdirected herself in law by ruling that he did not adduce evidence that he acted as Hospital Administrator of the West Demerara Regional Hospital.
He advances, too, what he said was a failure on her part to appreciate that his challenge was to the decision making process, and not the decision of the PSC and REO. As far as Persaud is concerned, that process was unfair and contrary to the rules of natural justice.
The appellant’s action against the PSC and REO had been for removing him from the post of hospital administrator and their subsequent attempts to demote him to an accounts clerk.
He complains that the judge also erred in misapplying or failing to apply the relevant legal principles in respect of the burden of proof when an order nisi is granted, which calls on the respondent “to show cause.”
Persaud said he had a legitimate expectation that he would have been confirmed as hospital administrator after acting in that capacity since 2013 and then successfully completing a one-year probation.
Apart from seeking a reversal of the Chief Justice’s ruling, Persaud is also hoping for a writ of certiorari directed to the PSC, quashing its decision rescinding his appointment as hospital administrator, reverting him to the position of Accounts Clerk II.
His position is that the decision is “contrary to the rules of natural justice, arbitrary, whimsical, capricious, in excess of and without jurisdiction, unconstitutional, unfair, unlawful, null, void and of no effect.”
To his argument that the life of the PSC had already ended at the time it revoked his appointment, the Chief Justice had said that this was found not to be the case, owing to evidence presented by the Commission.
In the circumstances, Justice George-Wiltshire had said she could not conclude that the Nisi orders being sought by the applicant be made absolute, while reiterating that the court could not confirm that Persaud was even qualified for the position.
Resultantly, the judge discharged the Nisi orders.
In his application, Persaud had asked the court to grant an Order or Rule Nisi of Certiorari directed to the PSC quashing its decision contained in a letter, dated the 26th day of September, 2017, on the grounds that the said decision is contrary to the rules of natural justice and unconstitutional and that the body be ordered to show cause why the said order should not be made absolute; a Writ of Certiorari directed to the PSC quashing its decision contained in the letter; an Order or Rule Nisi of Prohibition directed to the PSC and/or the Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Three restraining them, by themselves, their servants and/or agents from appointing any person to act in or perform the functions of the office of Hospital Administrator and that both be ordered to show cause why the said order should not be made absolute; and a Writ of Prohibition directed to the PSC and REO restraining them, by themselves, their servants and/or agents from appointing any person to act in or perform the functions of the office of Hospital Administrator.
In his affidavit, Persaud had said that by way of a letter, dated 7th June, 2017, Dennis Jaikaran, the REO of Region Three, informed him that the PSC had granted approval for his appointment as Hospital Administrator, on probation for one year, with effect from 2016-05-13.
He had been acting in the post since 18th March, 2013.
He said that without any prior notification and for reasons unknown, he received a letter, dated 26th September, 2017, from Jaikaran, rescinding the appointment and reverting him to the position of Accounts Clerk II with immediate effect.
According to Persaud, he became aware that the REO was taking steps to appoint someone to act in the position and as a result, his attorney wrote to the REO.
According to the letter, a copy of which was contained in the affidavit, Persaud’s attorney Anil Nandlall, informed that in the legal proceedings, which would have been filed either on or before Monday, 2nd October, 2017, one of the reliefs being sought was an order prohibiting the filling of the position until the hearing and determination of his client’s matter.
“Therefore, any attempt to fill this position in the interim will be construed as a deliberate attempt to defeat and pervert the intended legal proceedings,” Nandlall had written.
