HUGH Wildman — lead attorney for interdicted Police Federation Chairman Corporal Rohan James — has classified as false, information in the public domain that his client has lost his bid to be reinstated.

Instead Wildman says an application for a stay of proceedings regarding James’s reinstatement was filed in the Appeal Court on Thursday.

In the meantime, he said a court hearing for the two applications filed by James to challenge the decision of the high command to place him on interdiction will be heard on September 28 this year.

“Mr James filed two applications to challenge the decision of the high command to place him on interdiction. One of those applications is by way of application for leave for judicial review to quash the decision and the other application is for an immediate stay of the decision of the high command until the matter can be fully tried,” Wildman explained.

James was interdicted over remarks he made in July at a funeral service for a slain cop. Following a probe, the police commissioner directed that disciplinary action be taken against James at a Court of Enquiry, and that he be interdicted from duty with immediate effect at three-quarters of his salary.

The federation chairman in an application filed at the Supreme Court last Friday asked the court to issue a stay of the decision of the high command, pending the hearing. Following the first hearing on Wednesday, Wildman told the Jamaica Observer that no resolve was reached. However, on Thursday, the attorney, in rubbishing reports that his client had lost his reinstatement bid, said “the reality of the situation is that Mr James is better off today than he was yesterday or the days before”.

He said when the matter came up on Wednesday the sitting judge said based on the issues raised regarding James’ constitutional rights, the guidance of the Attorney General’s chambers would be sought and so the hearing of both applications would be put off.

According to Wildman, after checks with the registry revealed that the only available date was in September, the legal team objected leading to the compromise reached on Thursday.

“We wanted the case to be heard but judge wasn’t ready so she decided that she was going to make certain orders to have the case postponed and we said if you are going to postpone the case you have to grant us certain things. We said, the man was put on three-quarters pay without being heard so that was a breach of his right to be heard, they had to concede and agree for him to get 99 per cent of his salary. Secondly, they gave an undertaking to stop any disciplinary hearing against the man until the matter is tried. So two major developments there,” the attorney said.

“We said since you can’t hear us, we wanted a temporary stay so that the man could resume his job as chairman of the federation until the matter is heard, the judge said she can’t grant that one because that one is to be determined by the hearing.

“That is the one we said we need to go to the Court of Appeal to get done. That is the case right now. We are trying to get it heard in a matter of days. It is being filed now as we speak so that it can be heard in a matter of days for the man to resume his job,” Wildman told the Observer.

“So the case hasn’t been tried yet, both applications have not been heard as yet, the court said it needed time,” he noted.

James was on Wednesday, May 31 this year returned to his post of chairman by delegates in elections when he secured 98 votes which, according to a statement from the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), was the second highest of all the candidates. The highest number of votes went to Corporal Arleen McBean, who returned to her post as general secretary.

Instituted by law, one of the main duties of the federation is to advocate on behalf of the rank and file members on matters concerning their welfare.