Criminal Court, on Wednesday, informed the police that an appeal regarding the case of three kilograms of drugs confiscated from reclaimed suburb Hulhumale must be submitted to the High Court before investigations proceed.
A local 25-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were arrested during the raid conducted at a residence in the early hours of Tuesday. The Criminal Court released them under section 12, chapter 32 of the Criminal Procedure Code which mandates a judge's name, signature and seal or stamp on the document in order to issue a court order.
However, the police apprehended the two individuals for a second time under an arrest warrant issued by the Hulhumale court and requested an increase in their respective remand periods on Wednesday.
The Criminal Court denied the request on the basis of a procedural issue and released the two individuals again.
The highlighted issue was that the request for increased remand was submitted by a different officer from the one charged with investigating the case.The police stated that the procedural issue in question was never raised during any previous circumstances.
In response, the Criminal Court stated that the arrests made were unlawful and that the denial of the police's request to increase remand periods must be appealed at the High Court. Additionally, the Criminal Court asserted that the police's attempt to attain another arrest warrant without the submission of an appeal undermined the hierarchy of criminal justice.
The Criminal Court further revealed that the police's initial search warrant violated the Criminal Procedure Code and that, therefore, the evidence was illegally obtained.
Additionally, the Criminal Court asserted that it did not issue illegal search and arrest warrants, thereby reasoning that increasing remand period under such orders would be unconstitutional.
The Criminal Court also stated that police actions regarding the 52-year-old woman currently under medication for a mental illness were unlawful.
The police stated that the women was apprehended without charges upon her, but due to the reason that her son refused responsibility for the drugs that were seized.
Highlighting the matter, the court upheld article 52 of the constitution, which declares forceful and illegal obtaining of evidence to be prohibited.
While issues present in the initial court order necessitates appeal, the Criminal Court maintained that the police used questionable methods to attain the warrant from the Hulhumale Court and further stated the police had leaked sensitive case information to the media that had raised confusion.
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