Attorney General's Office lawyer, on behalf of Maldives Police Service, has stated in High Court that they failed to comply with an Anti Corruption Commission order to halt police promotions based on advice received from the Prosecutor General's Office.
Attorney General's Office lawyer, on behalf of Maldives Police Service, has stated in High Court that they failed to comply with an Anti Corruption Commission order to halt police promotions based on advice received from the Prosecutor General's Office.
Police's failure to comply with the ACC order had led to the commission submitting the case to Civil Court. ACC appealed for the court to order a halt on any promotions until the case was concluded, which the Civil Court denied to grant. Hence, ACC appealed the case at the High Court.
The State attorney made this statement in a High Court hearing on the case yesterday. They said that ACC had submitted the case after this.
The bench of judges asked why the Police had sought or followed the PG's advice when it is the AG Office who has the legal mandate to represent the Police in courts.
In response, the State attorney said the reasons behind acting in this manner is unclear at present.
They went on to say that the ACC does not have the legal authority to halt proceedings, saying this is made evident by the Supreme Court ruling of 2012 in the border control system case.
They said that although the ACC has the authority to halt proceedings that may lead to corruption, ACC failed to state specific concerns around police promotions, with their order having been issued via a letter.
The bench then asked if issuing the promotions would cause irreversible loss to the State, to which the State said that if it is proven that the promotions were granted wrongfully, there is no obstruction in revoking those promotions.
The bench then asked if, in such an instance, the salaries issued under promotions could be recovered. The State responded that the salaries had already been credited when ACC had appealed for a court order.
ACC's lawyers said that as the law states that the commission has the authority to take actions in relation to investigations, it must be interpreted that they have the authority to order halts on proceedings.
As such, they maintain that the financial loss caused to the State through granting promotions is greater than any loss that would be caused to the Police by halting promotions.
The bench announced that if no further information has to clarified in the case, the verdict would be issued in the next hearing.
The bench of judges consists of Judge Mohamed Shaneez Abdulla, Judge Mohamed Faisal and Judge Mohamed Saleem, with Judge Shaneez presiding.
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