The Attorney General's (AG) office has decided to appeal the Civil Court's ruling that the dismissal of five senior police officers on the advice of the Police Board, was illegal, at the High Court.
Seven officers were dismissed last year on the advice of the Police Board, five of whom filed a lawsuit saying the decision was illegal. The five officers charged are Assistant Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed, Assistant Commissioner Mohamed Jamsheed, Chief Superintendent Abdulla Shareef, Superintendent Mohamed Dawood and Superintendent Ismail Shameem.
The Civil Court ruled that the five officers were dismissed in violation of the Police Act. The decision to dismiss them was later quashed.
However, the AG's office said in a tweet on 22 December that it had decided to appeal the Civil Court's ruling at the High Court.
The office said it decided to appeal the lower court's decision because it appeared to have misinterpreted the implementation of the Police Service Act.
According to the new police law, the Police Board, within four months of their appointment, must recommend the removal of commissioned officers from the ranks of Superintendent of Police to higher ranks, except the Commissioner of Police, if they have allegations of abuse of power against them.
The Civil Court on December 21, ruled that under the Police Act, a senior officer can be removed by a decision of the Police Board based on the nature of the alleged offence and the available evidence.
According to the judgment, the two reports submitted by the prosecution to the court did not belong to the five officers, and the reports submitted were not the board's decision to dismiss the officers.
The judgment further stated that, when the Police Act comes into force, officers from the rank of superintendent and above must be considered for allegations and their educational qualifications must be reviewed, but it is not a provision that empowers them to dismiss such officers.
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