Cop challenges delay in promotion to sergeant

The Hall of Justice. - File photo

A corporal of police is challenging the Promotion Advisory Board (PAB) and the Attorney General over the alleged failure to interview him for elevation to the rank of sergeant.

Cpl Prem Mungroo argues that the omission, ongoing for more than three years, breaches the PAB’s statutory duties, violates natural justice, and infringes his constitutional rights.

Mungroo was granted leave on November 26 to seek judicial review. He is asking the High Court to declare unlawful the PAB’s continued refusal to conduct an interview to assess his suitability for promotion. He says he became entitled to the in interview on January 25, 2022, after passing the required qualifying examination and maintaining “outstanding” performance appraisals from 2016 through 2023.

According to claim, 461 similarly ranked corporals were interviewed between March and July 2022 and later placed on an order of merit list. Mungroo contends he was comparably situated but denied the same opportunity without justification, amounting to unequal treatment and procedural unfairness.

He further alleges that the PAB failed to meet its statutory obligation to convene every three months to consider promotions under Section 19 of the Police Service Act and Regulation 20 of the Police Service Regulations. The resulting delay, he claims, has stymied his advancement within the TT Police Service and prevented him from qualifying to sit promotion examinations for the rank of inspector in late 2025.

The TTPS Legal Unit, in its August 18, response to Mungroo’s pre-action letter, said the 2022 interview round was limited to officers who had completed their promotional exams on or before January 1, 2021. Mungroo argues this cut-off date, set by the Commissioner of Police, was improperly adopted by the PAB and unlawfully fettered its discretion.

In addition to declarations of unlawfulness, irrationality, and breach of natural justice, Mungroo seeks an order compelling the PAB to interview him within 30 days of any ruling in his favour. He also seeks constitutional redress from the attorney general, including declarations that his rights to the protection of the law, equality before the law, and equality of treatment were violated, as well as an award of damages.

Mungroo states in his affidavit that he has been “greatly distressed” by the delay, saying it has denied him the benefits of 25 years of “unblemished and outstanding service” to the TTPS.

“My elevation within the TTPS has been stymied as a result of the first defendant’s inordinate delay in failing to interview me to determine my suitability for promotion to the rank of sergeant. “Had I been interviewed during the sittings which occurred from March to July 2022, I would have by now been promoted and I would have been able to participate in the qualifying promotion examinations for promotion to the rank of inspector which were held in November and December 2025.”

He is represented by attorneys Michael Rooplal and Vishan Gopaul-Gosine. The hearing is scheduled to proceed before Justice Karen Reid on March 2, 2026.