Georgetown: Condemnation surrounding the appointment of Guyanese Attorney-at-law law, Sanjeev Datadin to the position of Special Constable by the ruling Antiguan Government to probe a high profile fraud case may have substantial merit. According to reports coming out of the Caribbean Island a procedural error by Commissioner of Police, Vere Browne, has rendered the swearing-in of Datadin null and void. The Antigua Observer reported that “the revelation came in separate instances from National Security Minister, Dr. Errol Cort, and Attorney General, Justin Simon.”
In fact the reports are that the Auditor General was not consulted before the appointment was made and has been quoted as saying that “I would have expected that before that was done, advice would have been sought from the Attorney General. That was not done by the Commissioner and that is where it was, so the Attorney General knew nothing about this matter.”
Simon said too that the matter was “handled solely by the police” even as he revealed to the Antigua Observer that he had sought to point out the error after learning of the appointment. He assured too that he was seeking to “correct what was incorrect.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of National Security disclosed that based on discussion with the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of National Security and Labour, “the proper procedures to give effect to the appointment of a Special Constable were not followed by the Commissioner of Police … it therefore means that the purported appointment of Mr. Datadin is null and void.”
Datadin was sworn in on January 3, using section 74 of the Police Act, Cap 330. He took the oath of office as a Special Constable in the presence of the Commissioner and Chief Magistrate, Joanne Walsh. But according to Dr. Cort the procedure erroneously skipped 72(1) of the Act, which gives the power to appoint to the Police Service Commission (PSC).
Dr. Cort said too that the Commissioner of Police must not only make a formal request before the PSC, but he must also outline the reasons for the request. Those reasons would then be forwarded to the Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of National Security, with the PSC making the final decision. “Those procedures were not followed,” he underscored and like Simon alluded to the need for the appointment to be corrected.
Datadin's appointment was geared at investigating the US $14 million Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Company Ltd (IHI) Japan debt settlement fraud. The fraud allegations has seen the authorities issuing statements making culpable former Prime Minister Lester Bird; former Ambassador and Guyana’s Kaieteur News Columnist Sir Ronald Sanders, and a member of Parliament and former Minister of the Government, Asot Michael.
Senior Attorney Anthony Astaphan, who has represented the opposition Antigua Labour Party in several cases, described the appointment as nothing short of outrageous. Speaking on Observer Radio recently, the Queen’s Counsel said Datadin’s appointment represents a serious conflict of interest. “What they have decided to do is to subvert the position of director of public prosecution with the appointment of a lawyer dressed up in the cloth of special constable, with powers of arrest,” he said.
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