Judge delays ruling in Trinidad’s top cop case
PORT OF SPAIN – High Court judge Christopher Sieuchand Tuesday deferred his ruling in a matter involving suspended Police Commissioner, Erla Harewood-Christopher, who has challenged the authority of the Police Service Commission’s (PSC) to suspend her as investigations continue into the procurement of sniper rifles for the Strategic Services Agency (SSA).
Harewood-Christopher had been granted leave to challenge the legality of her suspension on February 5, but she was not successful in getting the judge to keep the office vacant until his ruling. Parliament has since approved the appointment of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Junior Benjamin to act in the position.
Harewood-Christopher’s tenure officially ends on May 15, after two previous extensions in 2023 and 2024, in the national interest.
Court officials say the judge is now expected to make his ruling known in an e-mail to the parties at an unknown date.
In February, Justice Sieuchand had given the embattled top cop permission to challenge the PSC, after her lawyers had sought a judicial review of the PSC’s decision to have her “cease to report for duty and cease to discharge the duties of Commissioner of Police”’
“In my view, the balance of convenience does not favour the granting of this order and militates against it. Granting this relief would create a vacancy in the constitutional office charged with the overall management and responsibility of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service,” the judge said after hearing arguments for nearly four hours.
He said allowing such a void to persist cannot, in his view, be justified where the present circumstances are such that the country is plagued with high levels of reported serious crime and at the time was under a state of emergence (SoE).
The police commissioner is challenging the PSC’s authority to suspend her as the investigations continue into the allegation of misbehaviour in public office involving her.
Harewood-Christopher was released from police custody late January after being questioned in connection with the illegal procurement of high-powered rifles. (CMC)
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