Misbehaviour in public office

Former Property and Maintenance Manager of the North/West Regional Health Authority (NWRHA), Reynold Makhan, will not have to face a judge and jury on a charge of misbehaviour in public office.

The committal order  by Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls made on November 27, 2002, was quashed by High Court judge Justice Rajendra Narine yesterday. This means that Makhan has so far eluded all charges laid against him by the State. On November 27, 2002, Mc Nicolls had overruled a submission of no case made by Makhan’s attorney on his behalf, with respect to the charge of misbehaviour in public office. However, on charges of larceny, Mc Nicolls agreed with Makhan’s attorney that the State had not made out a prima facie case against him on that charge. Two other NWRHA officials, Ramesh Sharma, the CEO and Dr Ranjit Sookdar, Chief Operations Officer, faced the same charges. They too, benefited from the no case submission with respect to the larceny charges, but their committal order on the misbehaviour charge is yet to be tested.

This charge was that they conspired to misappropriate the sum of $1,635,840, the property of the NWRHA. Makhan sought judicial review against Mc Nicolls’ order and was granted leave on March 12, 2003. His matter was argued by Alvin Fitzpatrick SC and Rikki Harnanan, instructed by Byrne. Mc Nicolls was represented by Andre De Vignes and Ms John. In his 29-page judgement, Justice Narine said: “ In this case I have come to the conclusion that there has been a substantial error in the committal proceedings leading to manifest injustice and substantial adverse consequences for the appellant (Makhan).  I therefore exercise my discretion to quash the committal made by the respondent (McNicolls) on 27th November 2002, committing the applicant to stand trial at the next sitting of the Assizes. The respondent will pay applicant’s costs certified fit for Senior Counsel.”