…High Court awarded cost to AG Chambers

Chief Justice, Roxanne George-Wiltshire has dismissed an application by Former Deputy Solicitor General, Prithima Kissoon on allegations that she was wrongfully dismissed and also awarded cost amounting to $200,000 to the AG Chambers.

In a release the AG Chambers said that on the 10th November, 2017 Kissoon had filed an application in the High Court seeking orders of Certiorari directed at the Public Service Commission and/ or Delma Nedd, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Legal Affairs. By the action Ms. Kissoon alleged that the Public Service Commission’s decision to dismiss her from the Public Service for leaving the jurisdiction without permission was excessive, without merit, unlawful, ultra vires, unconstitutional and wholly in excess of its jurisdiction.

She further contended that she was not given a fair hearing or the right to legal representation by the Commission and that the Public Service Commission failed to serve on her in writing the charge together with the particulars of the charge. However, the chambers said during the pendency of those proceedings Ms. Kissoon on the 7th March, 2018 through her Attorney-at-Law, Nigel Hughes instituted proceedings touching and

concerning the same issues and subject matter before the Public Service Appellate Tribunal (of which her uncle Nandram Kissoon) is the uncle seeking concurrent and identical reliefs.
The AG release said that in response to Ms. Kissoon’s application Ms. Kim Kyte, Solicitor General and Ms. Oneka-Archer-Caulder, Principal Legal Adviser on the 28th March, 2018 filed a Notice of Application in which it alleged that Ms. Kissoon, as the former Deputy

Solicitor General came under the ambit and jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission and Rules therein provided a statutory remedy for the review of administrative actions within the Public service. The chambers contended that Miss. Kissoon should have availed and exhausted all and any available statutory remedies before seeking judicial review of this Honourable Court and more so that that the instituting of concurrent proceedings amounted to a flagrant abuse of the processes of the Court and the administration of justice. Further, it was noted by counsel for the Attorney General Chambers that at no time did Ms. Kissoon disclosed to the Court the fact that she had since filed concurrent proceedings for identical reliefs before the Appellate Tribunal.

The matter came up for hearing on Friday before Chief Justice George-Wiltshire who ruled that the filing of identical proceedings for identical reliefs before two separate bodies amounted to an abuse of the process of the Court and further, that since counsel for the applicant Nigel Hughes had failed to file an Affidavit of Defence in response to the Attorney General’s claims he is taken too have conceded to the claims therein. The Attorney General’s Chambers was represented by Ms. Oneka-Archer-Caulder, Principal Legal Adviser and Ms. Kezia Williams appeared for and on behalf of Mr. Nigel Hughes for Ms. Kissoon.