THE fate of Mr. Carvil Duncan, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, has been decided. A tribunal that was set up to investigate whether he should be removed from office because of his conduct has completed it work, but is being prevented from releasing the report due to a court order.Minister of State, Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon, told reporters at his post-Cabinet news briefing on Friday that information available to Cabinet is that the tribunal has completed its work. He explained that when the order of the court was issued to the tribunal, hearings had been completed.

“We are a law-abiding government, and the requirement is that the tribunal (should) hand over its recommendations to the President. As a government, since there is an order of court, we respect the order of court,” Minister Harmon explained.

Noting that, in the interim, attorneys representing the state have been instructed to move to the courts to have the order vacated so that the work of the Commission can be concluded, Harmon disclosed that the return day to the High Court is October 31.

“The work is not concluded until the tribunal hands over its report to the President, and that is the stage I believe we are at. Once there is an order of court which I believe in any way touches or concerns the matter, we’d respect the order of the court and wait,” Harmon explained.

President David Granger appointed the tribunal to determine whether Duncan should be removed from his post as head of the Public Service Commission and as a member of several other constitutional bodies, following fraud charges being brought against Duncan.

Duncan subsequently secured an Order of Rule Nisi from the High Court to halt the works of the tribunal while the magistrates’ court determines whether there is enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

Government is preparing to submit its response to the Order. “The return date on that order is the 31st of October, and therefore the attorneys who represent the state will be given sufficient instructions to move to the court to have that order vacated,” Harmon said.

Harmon noted that the tribunal has completed its investigations, and would present its recommendations to the President when the court matter is resolved. “The work is not concluded until the tribunal hands over its report to the President, and that is the stage where I believe we are at,” Harmon told the press.

President David Granger had, in September, appointed three members to the tribunal: Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, Justice (ret’d) Winston Patterson, and Attorney-at-Law Robert Ramcharran, to inquire, investigate, and recommend whether Carvil Duncan, Chairman and appointed member of the Public Service Commission, should be removed from office.

In addition to being charged with fraud, Duncan has not been executing his functions effectively. He is currently before the court on fraud charges after auditors discovered that he had paid himself approximately $1M., and allegedly conspired with Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Guyana Power and Light, Aeshwar Deonarine, to transfer an unapproved sum of approximately $27M into Deonarine’s personal account.

The President, in October, suspended the Chairman of the PSC with immediate effect, pending the outcome of the proceedings of the tribunal, headed by Justice George. On the same day the President suspended Duncan, Duncan’s Attorney, Anil Nandlall, moved to the High Court to challenge the legality of the tribunal appointed to determine whether Duncan should be removed from office, given that he was charged with fraud.

Justice Franklin Holder last week ordered that the work of the tribunal be suspended, thereby preventing its three members from reporting to President Granger on whether Duncan ought to be removed from office due to the criminal charges he faces.

The Tribunal was expected to submit a report to the President on or before October 31.