A gun dealer and five others have served a pre-action protocol letter on Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher over the non-renewal of their Firearm User’s Licences (FUL) and the deeming of them to be invalid.
According to the document filed in the High Court and dated April 19, the CoP came to this determination despite thousands of FUL holders having paid their annual renewal fees between 2004 and up to 2023.
The claimants are Towfeek Ali, Hasan Ali, Azad Ali, Rajiv Prakash Maharaj, Navindra Ramjattan and Anita Latchman.
Towfeek Ali is the managing director of the Firearms Training Institute Limited (FTI Limited) and Trinidad and Tobago Security Services Limited (TTSSL).
The six are represented by attorneys Nyree Alfonso, Kiel Taklalsingh, Anand Beharrylal and Asif Hosein-Shah.
The claim was prompted by notices published by the CoP in late December 2023 and January 2024, whereby Harewood-Christopher mandated that all FULs be renewed or they would become invalid.
Attorneys for the intended claimants exchanged correspondence with the commissioner on the issue of renewals but the CoP argued that persons who had failed to renew their FULs since 2004 or, in the alternative, since the year 2007, would no longer be holders of valid FULs.
This decision, the attorneys argue, has potentially exposed thousands of law-abiding FUL holders to criminal prosecution, with sanctions, including fines of up to $500,000 and imprisonment of up to 20 years.
In particular, the claimants are seeking to challenge the specific determination and/or decision of the CoP that the claimants are in “deliberate non-compliance with the renewal regime”, in circumstances where prior to 2024, the commissioner failed to operationalise any renewal regime in relation to existing FULs.
The claimants are seeking a declaration that the CoP’s decisions, conduct and/or determination that FULs that have not been renewed subsequent to 2004 are invalid is unlawful and an order quashing the decisions of the CoP, among other measures.
The claimants believe Harewood-Christopher has also acted in bad faith, breached the legitimate expectations of FUL holders and/or abused her power in arriving at the decision and promulgating the renewal scheme. — With reporting by RHONDOR DOWLAT