Former IGP on IPCMC: Amending Article 140 could lead to outside manipulation

KUALA LUMPUR: Amending Article 140 of the Federal Constitution could lead to outside manipulation of the police force, says former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan (pic).

He said this in response to outgoing Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun who said that the police force does not want to hand over the power to take disciplinary action against its personnel to the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

He said the IPCMC wants to take over the powers of the Police Commission under Article 140 of the Federal Constitution on issues regarding disciplinary action and investigations.

According to Musa, Article 140 should not be amended as it would lead to outside manipulation.

He explained that Article 140 gives the Police Commission jurisdiction over all members of the police force.

Musa said he had called for the formation of the IPIC (Independent Police Integrity Commission), which was specifically to reform the police force when he was IGP.

"I submitted the papers to then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who approved it.

"The EAIC (Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission), however, was formed instead and tasked to handle issues involving all enforcement agencies in the country," he said.

Meanwhile, former Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mah Weng Kwai said forming the IPCMC would not necessarily work against the police force.

"If you look at it as a whole, all it calls for is an independent body to investigate and it could work well for the police.

"The IPCMC Bill was drafted by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) in 2005 and it went quiet for some time," he said, adding that the issue re-emerged following the public inquiry by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) into the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and activist Amri Che Mat.

The former Suhakam commissioner added that the formation of the IPCMC was one of the recommendations after the conclusion of the public inquiry.

"Mohamad Fuzi is contradicting himself by taking this stand now after saying they accepted the IPCMC last year," he said.-Star