High Court stays Civil Court order reinstating ex-ACP Asif
In May, the Civil Court ruled that Asif's dismissal was unlawful because it did not meet procedural and substantive fairness requirements.
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The High Court has suspended the execution of a Civil Court ruling that found the dismissal of former Assistant Commissioner of Prisons Mohamed Asif to be unlawful and ordered his reinstatement.
Asif was dismissed from the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) in July last year following an investigation into the alleged transfer of more than MVR 200,000 from the MCS Prisons Club bank account to a number of private accounts.
At the time, Asif was serving as president of the Prisons Club. His employment was terminated after he had been suspended for eight months.
In May, the Civil Court ruled that Asif's dismissal was unlawful because it did not meet procedural and substantive fairness requirements. The court ordered the Maldives Correctional Service to reinstate him within 14 days and pay his outstanding salary and allowances within 30 days.
The Maldives Correctional Service appealed the judgment to the High Court and sought an interim order to suspend its execution.
In an injunction issued on Sunday, a three-judge bench of the High Court unanimously granted the request and stayed the enforcement of the Civil Court ruling until the appeal is determined.
The High Court held that:
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Allowing the Civil Court judgment to be implemented before the appeal is concluded could affect the public interest.
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Suspending the execution of the judgment was the most appropriate course of action in the circumstances.
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All parties are prohibited from taking any steps to implement the Civil Court ruling until the High Court issues a further order or reaches a final decision.
In its judgment, the Civil Court found that although the Maldives Correctional Service argued Asif had been dismissed following an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds, he had not been given an opportunity to respond to the allegations.
The court also noted that while the Correctional Service stated the matter had been investigated by its Professional Standards Board, it did not submit the investigation report as evidence. Similarly, although it said the case had been reviewed by the Disciplinary Board, it failed to provide the board's report or documentation explaining the basis for the dismissal.
The Civil Court concluded that the Correctional Service had not substantiated its claim that Asif could not be reinstated because the relationship of trust between the parties had broken down.
