Appeals Court upholds decision police officer's dismissal was unlawful

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today upheld a High Court decision that the dismissal of a police chief inspector from the police force three years ago for disciplinary misconduct was unlawful.
A three-man bench chaired by Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid said there was no appealable error by the High Court judge and she affirmed the judge's decision to reinstate Selamat Rasumin to his position in the force.
Justice Umi Kalthum, who presided with Puan Sri Paduka Zaleha Yusof and Datuk Yaacob Md Sam, had unanimously dismissed the appeal brought by the then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who was the chairman of the Bukit Aman Police Disciplinary Board; the Police Disciplinary Board and the Government of Malaysia.
The appellants appealed against the High Court ruling to quash the disciplinary board decision in dismissing Selamat from the force after finding him guilty on six charges of misconduct.
Then High Court judge, Datuk Hanipah Farikullah (now Court of Appeal judge), had ruled that Selamat's cautioned statement under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) was unlawfully recorded because the disciplinary investigation officer had used the special powers of an investigating officer in a criminal case to record his statement.
Hanipah had said that Selamat's statement under Section 112 of the CPC was inadmissible in evidence in disciplinary proceedings.
Selamat claimed that the charges of misconduct preferred against him were defective because his statement under Section 112 of the CPC was used to frame one of his charges.
He claimed that his Section 112 CPC statement could not be used in disciplinary proceedings.
Hanipah had allowed Selamat's judicial review and granted a certiorari order to quash the board decision to dismiss Selamat and also allowed his claim for an investigation to determine the backdated salary, allowances and other interest that he should receive from the date he had been dismissed.
On April 16, 2015, Selamat, 53, who was with the Pontian District Police as head of the Narcotics Division, received a letter from the then IGP informing him that he had been dismissed from the force effective March 26, 2015, after he was found guilty of the first three charges of misconduct while on duty between 2008 and 2009.
He was given a warning for the other three charges.
Selamat filed a judicial review on July 8, 2015, seeking a certiorari order to quash the board decision to dismiss him and a declaration that he was still an officer in the force, naming Khalid, the Bukit Aman Disciplinary Board and the government as respondents.
Selamat was represented by lawyer G. Subramaniam Nair while senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan appeared for the appellants. — AFP