Court turns down bid by employees

THE National Court has turned down an application by three sacked officers of the Auditor-General’s Office to be reinstated to their positions.
The three were Thomas Holland, Peter Siperau and Gabriel Koh.
Justice Ere Kariko ruled that the application seeking reinstatement was premature and an abuse of court processes.
The notice of motion filed by the applicants restraining the Auditor-General from terminating them was dismissed as well.
The three were charged under the public service general orders and were accorded principles of natural justice or rights to be heard
They were later terminated over   allegations against them.
State lawyer Kaiyoma Akeya said the three men were yet to exhaust administrative remedies such as lodging their grievances with the Public Service Commission.
Akeya told the court that the application was premature and abuse of court processes and that the proceedings should be dismissed with cost.
Kariko agreed and said the application was premature on the basis that the charges made against the three officers had not been reviewed by the commission when the application was filed.
“The application is abuse of court proceedings and the entire proceedings are dismissed with the costs,” Kariko said.
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