A day after he faced dozens of serious charges, lawyers for Assistant Commissioner of Police Calvin Brutus have withdrawn an action he brought against a number of officials including the Attorney General and the Police Commissioner.
The government yesterday released a notice of discontinuance and withdrawal signed by Brutus’ lawyers Earl Daniels, Yuborn Allicock and Domnick Bess. Brutus’ lawyers have not provided an explanation for their actions.
The notice of discontinuance was received by the Attorney General’s Chambers and pertains to Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn, the Police Service Commission, the acting Commissioner of Police, Clifton Hicken and the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).
Brutus on October 16 moved to the court arguing that he was being victimized in the ongoing investigation and being denied services including a restriction on his accounts.
The application also alleged a role for Cabinet in his being sent on leave and recounted an appearance in court where he was threatened with a wanted bulletin if he did not show up at SOCU which is spearheading the probe. The affidavit also accused senior government officials of interference in the matter.
Brutus was seeking a number of declarations from the court including that the acting Commissioner of Police acted ultra vires on July 4th by transferring him from the position of Deputy Commissioner due to “political directives and improper administrative procedures”.
Also being sought by Brutus was a declaration that Cabinet acted ultra vires on July 11 when it instructed the acting Commissioner of Police Clifton Hicken to send him on annual leave due to allegations of involvement in financial crimes.
Brutus was also seeking a declaration that the rules of natural justice were violated as he was not afforded a fair opportunity to respond.
He further sought a declaration that the Minister of Home Affairs acted ultra vires when he dispatched a letter to the acting Commissioner of Police dated August 21, 2024 for Brutus to proceed on leave on August 22.
Brutus was also seeking a declaration that the Police Service Commission acted ultra vires in sending a letter to the acting Commissioner of Police dated August 29th, 2024 that said that Brutus had proceeded on leave with effect from August 22, 2024.
A declaration was also being sought that SOCU behaved ultra vires in the investigation “through unlawful and premature restraining of the Applicant’s and his family bank accounts, the manipulation of evidence, intimidation and harassment of witnesses and unlawful leaking of information to the media and social media”.
Brutus further wanted declarations that the investigation was inherently biased and irreparably tainted due to overwhelming and undue publicity which has prejudiced public perception.
He then sought orders associated with the various declarations prayed for. On October 17, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo warned that Brutus’ move to the court against the Attorney General and the police chief was self- destructive as the government has files on him from when he oversaw the procurement system of the police force.
“We will respond to the constitutional motion in court and since some charges were made, trust me, our affidavit to respond to those charges may not be beneficial to the particular individual because we will go into great detail about what our findings were in the procurement system … when he was heading the administration of the Police Force,” Jagdeo told a press conference.
He said that his PPP/C government was sending a signal to the public that it would not condone corruption.
“The PPP will not tolerate corruption in the police or anywhere else and when we find corruption in the Police Force or anywhere else, there would be no attempt to cover it up. So, if you believe that you have a special relationship with the government and that we will, pursuant to that relationship, cover up your misdeeds, you have it wrong. You don’t know the PPP,” he said.
