A HIGH COURT judge has dismissed an application by the Public Service Commission (PSC) to set aside an interim injunction granted to a senior prison officer which blocked a move to have a competency-based interview for promotion to the rank of senior superintendent of prison.

The injunction was granted to Deopersad Ramoutar in August, when he was also given permission to pursue a judicial review against the PSC.

The injunction prevented the interviews, which were scheduled to take place that month, from happening until Ramoutar’s claim was determined by the court.

The matter is expected to go to trial next month. However, the PSC applied to have the injunction set aside on the basis it should not have been granted in the first place.

In a ruling on the application, the judge hearing Ramoutar’s claim, Justice Kevin Ramcharan held since the parties relied heavily on the question of the public’s interest, this will best be served by “allowing the proceedings to come to a natural conclusion before the promotion exercise is allowed to recommence.”

It was argued by the PSC that current commissioner Dennis Pulchan was set to retire soon and the process to select a successor was affected by this injunction.

The PSC also submitted it would not be in the public’s interest to have the entire first division holding action positions and 15 others affected by it as the promotion process was in rail for a long time and Ramoutar had received training for areas in the competency-based interview.

In his claim, Ramoutar is contending the PSC move to introduce the requirement for the competency-based interview after he topped the list of candidates for promotions based on criteria set in 2014 and was awaiting retroactive promotion.

When Ramoutar first learned of the change in October 2020, he wrote to the PSC seeking clarification but only received confirmation of receipt of his correspondence.

Ramoutar and his attorneys then wrote several letters on the issue and requested further information on what was being assessed in the proposed interview and the basis for it.

His lawyers claimed that the information provided showed that their client and his colleagues were being assessed on far more areas of competency than used during the previous promotion exercise, which he (Ramoutar) topped.

Ramoutar is seeking a declaration that the new assessment is unlawful and orders compelling the PSC to use the previous process for the ongoing promotion procedure.

He is represented by Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh, Stefan Ramkissoon, and Rhea Khan.

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