PETALING JAYA: Former inspector-general of police Hanif Omar said no minister could order a commissioner of police (CP) against what they were “legally bound not to do”.
This is contained in a congratulatory message to incoming IGP Acryl Sani Abdullah, which is currently making rounds on social media.
Citing a common law case in the United Kingdom, Hanif said this was contained in a decision by Lord Denning in the case between the attorney-general and commissioner of police in 1973.
Hanif, who was the country’s top cop for 20 years, said only the CP could decide the priority he would place on any one of his duties.
“The police must bow down only to the law and not to any other person, albeit his own minister,” he said in a separate message to FMT.
Hanif’s message comes in the wake of outgoing IGP Abdul Hamid Bador’s revelation of home minister Hamzah Zainudin’s interference in police matters.
According to Hamid, an order had been issued by Hamzah to postpone the transfers of senior members of the force decided on earlier.
He also said Hamzah had been pushing to get power to determine where certain police officers should be placed.
Hanif, in his message, also recalled the time he had met Acryl Sani when he returned from his study leave in the UK to find that the latter and his wife were engineers but had chosen to be in the police force.
He went on to say that Acryl Sani had persevered in the force and was now going to helm it.
“Various (police) cartels are waiting for the action you will take,” he said, possibly alluding to Hamid’s allegation that there was a cartel comprising younger police officers who wanted to dominate the force.