Supreme Court upholds High Court’s ruling to allow civil servants to take part in political activities.

The Supreme Court has today ruled that article 53 of the Civil Service Act is inconsistent with article 30[a] of the constitution, and has supported the High Court ruling invalidating the article 53 of the Civil Service Act.

The case was appealed by the Attorney General at the Supreme Court, after the High Court determined that the article 53 of the Civil Service Act was inconsistent with article 30[a] of the constitution.

Article 53 of the Civil Service Act states that Civil Servants cannot participate in any political activities while article 30[a] of the constitution states that it is a right of every citizen to take part in political activities.

The Supreme Court’s verdict read that section 77[a] to [d] of the Civil Service Act that defines political activities, which has mentioned every single activity that would come to a person’s mind when they think of political activities, and that article 77[a] to [d] was defined as definitely inconsistent with the constitution’s article 30[a].

Local media reported that the case was lodged with  the High Court by a former civil servant who worked at the Youth Ministry named Mohamed Haanim, who was dismissed from his position after he took part in an opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) rally.

The case was logged to the Supreme Court on March 2009 and the case reached to a conclusion yesterday.

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3 thoughts on “Supreme Court upholds High Court’s ruling to allow civil servants to take part in political activities.”

  1. This is very sad.I am a civil servant n I feel we cannot work without bias if we support and be active in politics. Even this time during council election so much of trouble due to the fact all senior officials worked against the ruling party or the opposition. Even in government offices it was the same story.I fear there will be more divisions and blame games due to this ruling. The courts shud be more aware of these issues than the common person.

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  2. A very sad day for the democracy of Maldives. If civil servants jeopardize the running of the government for political reasons the general public will not be served properly. This is the reason why they are not allowed to participate openly in political activities.

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