Last Updated on Monday, 12 October 2026, 17:43 by Writer
Deputy police commissioner Fizal Karimbaksh, who is accused of raping a female police officer, is refusing to go on administrative or pre-retirement leave pending the outcome of a probe because there is no police service commission (PSC) to order him to do so.
“I further dispute your authority to place my client on compulsory administrative leave. On the legal basis presently disclosed, you have no lawful authority to impose such leave upon my client. No applicable statutory power or operative written delegation authorising that course has been identified or furnished,” lawyer Rizwaun Mohamed said in a letter dated October 10 in response to Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken’s letter to Mr Karimbaksh dated October 7.
Through his lawyer, Mr Karimbaksh is threatening to take legal action against the Guyana Police Force (GPF) if he is forced out of office ahead of his retirement in April 2027.
“You are hereby placed on unequivocal notice that, should you seek to compel my client to proceed on pre-retirement or administrative leave without lawful authority, I am instructed to institute legal proceedings without further notice, seeking urgent interim relief where necessary, together with all other appropriate relief and costs,” the lawyer also said.
Efforts to obtain Mr Hicken’s letter to Mr Karimbaksh, who is the head of the force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), were unsuccessful.
The GPF on October 8 said Mr Karimbaksh was sent on leave pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of rape and threatening behaviour made against him.
Additionally, the female police inspector, who made the report, has been transferred from the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to Regional Police Division 4 ‘A’’, the force said last week.
But the lawyer strenuously objected to the police commissioner “compelling” Mr Karimbaksh to proceed on pre-retirement leave and that he was eligible for 174 days of annualised vacation leave before retirement which should start on November 8.
“For the avoidance of doubt, my client does not consent to compulsory pre-retirement leave on the basis presently advanced. He remains ready and available to discharge his duties and comply with lawful directions.
His position must not be construed as acquiescence in an enforced absence, acceptance of the disputed leave calculation, or waiver of any right,” the lawyer said.
Mr Karimbaksh is also disputing the duration of the annualised leave to which he is entitled, saying that it is actually 118 days rather than 174.
“The calculation and consequent commencement date are therefore expressly disputed,” the lawyer said on behalf of his client.
He also told the police commissioner that including November 8 in his letter does not amount to an agreement to that date or “establish authority to compel the proposed leave.”
At the heart of Mr Karimbaksh’s refusal to obey Mr Hicken’s instruction to proceed on leave is his ground that the police commissioner is responsible under the Police Act for command and superintendence of the police force while the Guyana Constitution vests disciplinary control over deputy police commissioners to the Police Service Commission and delegation of directions in writing.
The lawyer says not because the PSC is not constituted that the police commissioner or anyone else can assume those functions.
“A general reliance upon command authority does not resolve the distinct question of the legal basis for compelling my client’s absence” and “any such vacancy does not, of itself, transfer its powers to you or another authority,” he said.
