The government through its Legal Affairs Ministry has been ordered to pay former Deputy Solicitor General Prithima Kissoon the salary that was withheld from her. The High Court ruled that the move by the government against Kissoon was not only whimsical but was also “an abuse of power, in breach of the rules of natural justice, and null and void.”
In a ruling on July 25, 2019, the Honourable Chief Justice Madame Roxane George-Wiltshire handed down the ruling in favour of Kissoon in the matter against the State. In the matter, Kissoon had challenged the withholding of her salary by the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Legal Affairs (MoLA) and the Attorney General.
Based on the facts of the matter, in May 2017, the Attorney General caused Kissoon to be sent on “administrative leave” by the Public Service Commission (PSC) pending an investigation into her alleged conduct on matters she had responsibility for while acting as Deputy Solicitor General.
After being sent on administrative leave by the PSC, Kissoon left the jurisdiction after applying to the Legal Affairs Permanent Secretary, the Secretary of the PSC, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Presidency, Department of the Public Service for permission to spend her leave out of the country.
However, the Legal Affairs Permanent Secretary wrote to Kissoon’s attorney advising him that her salary had been withheld because she had left the country without permission and that, “on the directive of the Attorney General’s Chambers [she] was advised and instructed that her salary be withheld with immediate effect pending the course of disciplinary action by the Public Service Commission.”
No investigation was reportedly conducted.
Upon her return, Kissoon was summoned by the PSC to attend a meeting which she attended with her attorney Mr Nigel Hughes, who enquired at this meeting about why her salary was withheld. The commissioners present denied issuing such a directive. The commissioners, it was reported, did not provide any information on the alleged investigation which was to have been conducted into the complaint about Kissoon’s work.
The learned Chief Justice found that “Indeed the letter inviting the applicant to meet with the PSC did not say in relation to what the meeting was about. This is especially relevant as the circumstances of this case disclosed that the PSC was dealing with more than one issues as regards the applicant: the allegations by the AG against her regarding her work; the complaint that she made against the AG; and the issue of her leaving the country without permission.’
Kissoon challenged the withholding of her salary during the non-existent investigation.
In her ruling, the Honourable Chief Justice stated that it was the PSC that had sent the applicant on administrative leave and it was impermissible for the PS to usurp the jurisdiction of the PSC in deciding or giving notification of the penalty, if any, to be imposed.
Further, the Honourable Chief Justice found Kissoon’s fundamental right not to be deprived of her property, to wit her salary, had been violated. Further, the Chief Justice was critical of the advice given by the AG’s Chambers which the PS decided to accept. In that, she found the advice “appears to have been an attempt to punish the applicant while awaiting the outcome of other disciplinary proceedings that were meant to be conducted as regards other allegations against her.”
As such, the learned Chief Justice directed the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Legal Affairs to forthwith pay Kissoon any and all salaries that have been withheld as the decision to withhold her salary was “ultra vires, whimsical, an abuse of power, in breach of the rules of natural justice and null and void.”
The Honourable Chief Justice also directed the PS to pay costs in the sum of $500,000.
Kissoon currently has other matters pending against the State for their termination of her services and actions for libel for a series of malicious statements made against her. She is being represented by Hughes Fields and Stoby.
