The State has been ordered to pay a little over $350,000 in compensation to a former police officer, who was detained by colleagues for almost eight days while being investigated for allegedly soliciting a bribe.
Delivering an oral judgment in late May, Appellate Judges Peter Rajkumar, Ronnie Boodoosingh, and James Aboud upheld an appeal from Sadiq Ali over a decision by a High Court Judge to reject his false imprisonment claim.
The judges delivered their written reasons yesterday. According to the evidence, on May 9, 2014, Ali, who joined the T&T Police Service in 2006, was summoned by detectives of the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB).
Ali was arrested by PSB detectives, who interrogated him over allegedly soliciting a bribe from a man that he and a colleague found in possession of a quantity of marijuana.
Ali was expected to be placed on an identification parade the following day but it had to be aborted because the other participants did not look similar to him. He was kept in a cell with a civilian detainee for another day before the officers attempted a “group identification.”
Under the procedure, Ali was made to sit in the food court of a popular mall, and the two witnesses were allowed to walk around the area three times to point out the man they claimed solicited the bribe. Although the witnesses failed to identify him, Ali was kept in custody for two more days.
During that period, he was placed on another identification parade. He was released without being charged after he was again not identified. In deciding the case, the appeal panel ruled that their colleague failed to appreciate that the officers did not have reasonable or probable cause to arrest Ali.
They said that the judge failed to consider that the police officers investigating Ali only had a vague assertion from the alleged witnesses that Ali was present when his colleague allegedly solicited a bribe from them. The judges also pointed out that the statements the witnesses provided to the police were not disclosed in the case.
They also pointed out that since Ali expressed willingness to participate in the parade to clear his name, he could have been released until the officers had made the necessary arrangements to conduct it. In assessing the compensation for Ali, the judges noted that his arrest and detention caused him significant stress and led to his resigning from the TTPS in 2015.
The judges awarded $200,000 in general damages. They also ordered $150,000 in exemplary damages to emphasise that Ali’s detention was unnecessary, high-handed, and unacceptable. “The actions of the arresting officers and all concerned in this investigation bordered on callous, thoughtless, and cruel.
It cannot be disputed that the appellant’s position as a serving police officer became untenable,” Justice Rajkumar said. Ali was represented by Nera Narine-Mollick, while Stefan Jaikaran and Kadine Matthew represented the State.