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ACP Jamshed (R) and Ahmed Mohamed were sent for dismissal from the police services.

Court overturns dismissal of 5 policemen

The court said that while the law empowers senior police officers to determine whether they are capable of work, it does not empower them to dismiss officers.

21 December 2022

By Aman Haleem

Civil Court on Wednesday overturned the dismissal of five police officers, who were among the officers recommended to be dismissed by the police board constituted under the new Police Act.

On August 9, the police board recommended to the police commissioner that it sees the removal of seven police officers after examining whether commissioned officers are capable of work as mandated by the new law.

When the seven officers were dismissed from service as per the recommendation, five of them approached the civil court. The court set aside the dismissal of these five officers. They are:

  • ACP Mohamed Jamsheedh

  • ACP Ahmed Mohamed

  • Chief Superintendent Abdulla Shareef

  • Superintendent Ismail Shameem

  • Superintendent Mohammad Dawood

In the case of the five officers, the Civil Court ruled that a senior officer can be removed from a decision of the police board on the basis of the nature of the alleged case and evidence received, but it is not clear that such decisions have been taken against the five officers.

"The notices issued by the accused Maldivian Police Service to Abdulla Shareef, Mohamed Dawood and Ismail Shameem, as well as the decision of the Maldives Police Service to dismiss Ahmed Mohamed and Mohamed Jamsheedh from service, are null and void," the civil court said in its ruling.

Defending the police board's decision, the state's counsel told the court that the removal of the five officers was in line with the powers vested in the police board under the Police Services Act. It was pointed out that:

  • The law empowers the police board to decide on whether police officers accused of abuse of power, atrocities or corrupt practices are capable of work.

  • Similar allegations of the five officers who were dismissed were reported to a state agency; the police board reached the decision after allowing them to respond to the allegations, as the board found that the offence was proven by civil standards.

Board does not have dismissal power

While the state claimed to have investigated the cases of these officers, no evidence was presented on why such a decision was taken by the police board, civil court judge Ali Abdulla ruled. 

The problem was a report prepared by the state police board in the form of documentary evidence. The judge noted that while one of the reports did not contain any objection to a particular officer, the other was written after the complaint was filed in the court. None of the documents submitted to the court showed that the police board had taken any decision against the officers, the court said. 

The court also said that while the law empowers senior police officers to determine whether they are capable of work, it does not empower them to dismiss officers.

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