Roshi Bhadain, Dass Ghoorah and Devanand Halkaree, the three officers of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), who were summarily dismissed some 18 months ago, have won a hard battle. Acting Chief Justice Bernard Sik Yuen and Puisne Judge Bushan Domah ruled last Friday that their dismissal was “null and void” because the ICAC had sacked them “in total disregard of the procedures”.

However, the going may get tough for the three men before they are fully reinstated in their jobs and get refunded their salaries for the past months. In fact, Roshi Bhadain, the former ICAC Director of investigations, and the two officers of his team thought they could go back to their jobs but they were prevented from accessing their offices and were told that the ICAC still had two weeks to appeal against the judgment.

Roshi Bhadain and his two colleagues had sued the ICAC for abusive dismissal. After receiving a letter of suspension, he was dismissed 20 days later without any enquiry or opportunity to defend his case. A few days later, Pravin Ghoora and Devanand Halkharee were similarly dismissed. The reason that ICAC commissioner Navin Bheekharry gave for Bhadain’s dismissal was that the commission was not satisfied with his work. Since he was still “on probation”, it was decided to terminate his contract with immediate effect. However, Roshi Bhadain insisted that there was no such probation period in his contract and went to court.

<B>Right of appeal</B>

The judges underline the recourse to procedures that they qualify as incompatible with the Prevention of Corruption Act. “The decisions taken to dismiss the three applicants , therefore, are also flawed on the ground of procedural impropriety, ultra vires and illegality.” They also deplore the state of affairs prevailing at the ICAC. “The picture of ICAC left with us is one of a couple of head-hunters, playing employees against employees, using stratagems for developing personal registers, brandishing high-sounding rhetoric to justify actions based on mere suspicions and seeking to justify questionable goals by culpable harassment, sequestration, confessions coupled with indignities.” Furthermore, they express their surprise that the commissioner, his deputies and other staff, who testified, failed to convince them that the applicants’ accusations had been unfounded.

The fact that they cannot yet resume their jobs, as the ICAC has expressed its right to appeal, has raised concern. Roshi Bhadain thought he had to go to his office immediately after the judgement, as he did not want to give his employer any excuse to fault him. The three men’s lawyers now want to know if the ICAC intends to appeal to the Privy Council. They feel that it could mean “another waste of taxpayers’ money” and propose to try and have the judgment enforced immediately. Now that the Supreme Court has clearly stated that the dismissals were “illegal”, they are even considering going to the civil court to claim damages for abusive dismissal.

Moreover, the Prime minister, in his press conference on Saturday, expressed his concern at this verdict. He said he had discussed the matter with the President of the Republic, but he conceded that, with the electoral campaign, it was not “the best time to deal with such a matter without the utmost caution to avoid any misinterpretation”.