ISRAEL B RAJAH-KHAN SC

IT APPEARS from information in the public domain that investigators probing Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher on the allegation of misbehaviour in public office in late 2023 were in contact with the Director of Public Prosecutions and were requesting legal advice and guidance.

And so as the current imbroglio unfolds, the country is anxious to hear whether the DPP had advised the investigators to arrest the CoP under Rule III of the Judges Rules or if the investigators did this on their own volition, and then went to the DPP for advice as to whether they should charge the CoP.

It is my considered view that the investigators should have invited the CoP to a Rule III interrogation. It was wicked and scandalous to arrest the CoP in the situation she found herself. It seems it was intended to humiliate and embarrass her and bring her to her knees.

And you know what, the police are entitled under the law to do this wicked act. And if that could be done to the supreme head of the police, it could be done to a sitting prime minister or attorney general or minister of national security. Yes, no one is above the law.

Be that as it may, when the investigators went to the DPP for advice on whether they should institute criminal charge, he directed/ordered them to release the CoP and seek further specific evidence: and thus our commissioner was released from custody pending further investigation.

What the public wants to know is if the CoP was not authorised under the Firearms Act to issue the import permit to gun dealer Luke Hadeed, to sell same to the SSA, why did the Ministry of National Security pay him for the guns?

What the public wants to know is if the CoP committed the criminal offence of misbehaviour in public office, whether it was committed as a result of a genuine mistake or misunderstanding (Rule 7:21, Code for Prosecutors).

And what I and many others want to know is whether the CoP was duped by a high government official to sign off on the import permit for the rifles, which were being purchased for the SSA, and hence if it is true the Ministry of National Security paid Hadeed for the guns, why is the Minister of National Security not also a suspect is this sordid mess?

PSC suspension order

The Police Service Commission (PSC) is empowered to send the CoP on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. It would have been highly irresponsible and thus a dereliction of its duty if it did not suspend her and thus allowed her to exercise enormous power over her own investigation by her subordinate investigators.

It is quite clear under the law that if there is any reason a CoP is unable to properly and legally perform her/his duty, the PSC is legally entitled to direct/order that they take administrative leave with full pay.

And if the commissioner is being investigated and she has been so informed under Rule III of the Judges Rules that the investigators are in possession of evidence which could result in her being charged and