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COMMENT: SHARMA DESERVES NATURAL JUSTICE
If it is true that sacked Solicitor-General SHARVADA SHARMA was suspended without pay then this is definitely against current public service practice based on the Public Service Act and Public Service Regulations. An officer in the public service can only be suspended without pay if he has committed an offense of serious criminal nature and is served with appropriate disciplinary charges in writing from the day his or her suspension commenced. In Sharma’s case, he was entitled to continue to be paid his full salary and perks from the 20th September until he had been formally charged in writing. We don’t think the sets of questions that the police handed to Sharma on 4th November from the Judicial and Legal Services Commission(on the basis of Sharma’s response, the JLSC would then be able to frame disciplinary charges against him) could even be considered as constituting formal disciplinary charges against Sharma?
So Sharma was entitled to continue to receive his salary and perks even beyond 4th November. Surely, the officer appointed to act as Solicitor-General would have some prior understanding of these basic management principles or she would have at least checked it out with the Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Commission before taking action against Sharma. But we suppose since her Minister is also Minister of the Public Service Commission, she would have very little options but to carry out her Minister’s politically- biased directives.
We hope one day the Opposition will have the stamina to raise this serious matter of conflict of interest in the House where Cabinet portfolios are allocated “on the basis of who you know" to individual Ministers. In this case the Minister of Everything, regardless of potential areas of conflict of interest and abuse of office. He is the ultimate judge of the public service, public purse or the budget, the judiciary and the law.
In good old days, civil servants who were suspended and served with disciplinary charges in writing were given up to 14 days to respond in writing to the charges. We, therefore, are shocked to learn that Sharma was only given 2 days to reply to the list of questions he was given on November 4, which leads us to assume that the communication from the JLSC
did not in any way represent any formal disciplinary charges against Sharma.
Having said all and warts, there is no denying that Sharma was a crucial cog in the setting up of the legal machinery to advance and consolidate FFP power.
Yes, SHARVADA SHARMA, as Indian sadhus say: 'KARMA IS A BITCH'. |  |
"HE [Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum] has been mass producing cheap quality but highly toxic decrees from his ASK Decree Sausage Plc machine without any democratic production license to do so, and ordering voiceless Fijians to swallow them without uttering a word of protest, and blocking access to courts for redress. Two of his illegal workers employed to operate the decree machine are Kiwi Christopher Pryde, and his side-kick, the Indo-Fijian Sharvada Sharma from S-G's Office. He has been playing Godfather with the Casino Decree; Lord of the Sea with the Surfing Decree, to name a few. Now, it has emerged that many of his decrees are objectionable, defective, and plainly unacceptable. The Yash Ghai chaired Constitution Commission has stripped them bare to the bone, like the cartoon "Borat Fiji Mankini" and he has been brought to ground. No wonder, he has confiscated the Draft Constitution, and all other supplementary documents presented to Ratu Epeli Nailatikau.
But you can read them now.
Meanwhile, we will let the Commission speak to you through its
Analysis of Decrees post 2009:"
SHARVADA SHARMA SACKING DIVIDES FIJI
