Zainur Zakaria said that under Article 140(7) of the Federal Constitution, the commission does not have such power if it does not involve promotion or demotion in rank.

He said the article states that “transfer” does not include transfer without change of rank within the police force.

“This means the IGP can transfer police officers without referring to the commission where such postings do not affect any change of rank,” Zainur told FMT.

He said Abdul Hamid Bador, who retires as IGP today, had claimed that one of the reasons of bad blood between him and home minister Hamzah Zanudin was due to Hamid’s decision to transfer officers without referring to the commission.

Zainur said this in reference to Takiyuddin calling on heads of services in the government to be more careful when speaking about the law and to refrain from making interpretations based on emotions.

Takiyuddin said no one should arbitrarily interpret the provisions of the constitution because the law is clear.

“I wish to say that as a minister looking after the public service, I want to advise civil servants and government officers, especially heads of services in the government, to be more careful when talking about matters related to law,” he said.

“For example, Article 140 of the constitution clearly states that for the Royal Malaysia Police, there is a commission named the Police Force Commission. This is the commission which will handle matters related to promotions, discipline, welfare and so on of police personnel totalling almost 130,000.”

Takiyuddin also said the constitution clearly states that the commission must be chaired by the home minister, who is responsible for the police.

Zainur said Takiyuddin is advised to read Article 140(7) as he had appeared to have overlooked the provision.