The Public Services’ Association (PSA) is not giving up.
On November 17th, High Court judge Westmin James dismissed the case brought by PSA member, Customs Officer Terrisa Dhoray, who had challenged the constitutional validity of the T&T Revenue Act 2021, the PSA has also requested an urgent hearing of this appeal.
The association has applied for an urgent injunction blocking the Government from moving ahead with its plan to implement the T&T Revenue Authority (TTRA).
The notice of appeal and application for an expedited hearing was filed with a certificate of urgency on November 20th.
In a letter dated November 27th, PSA president Leroy Baptiste said, “The PSA is confident that it is necessary to preserve the status quo whereby public officers continue to serve in the Board of Inland Revenue (BIR) and the Customs and Excise Division (CED) where they are insulated from political interference until this case can be determined.”
The PSA instructed its attorneys at Freedom Law Chambers, led by Anand Ramlogan, SC, to take immediate steps to prepare the arguments for the appeal in anticipation of an early hearing.
The PSA again called on the Government to respect the rights of workers and do the decent and honourable thing by agreeing to an injunction, or extending the deadline for workers to make the mandatory choice between their current job and the TTRA.
Baptiste said, “This case raises issues of fundamental constitutional and public importance.”
“This could have disastrous consequences for our country and set a dangerous precedent that will subjugate the entire public service to the political whim and fancy of the Government. We, therefore, call upon Minister Imbert to do the right thing and extend the deadline to allow justice to take its course.”
In her lawsuit, Dhoray had contended that certain segments of the legislation are unconstitutional, as they seek to interfere with the terms and conditions of employment of public servants currently assigned to the CED and IRD. She also claimed Government did not have the power to delegate its tax revenue collection duties.