KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador called for officers on the ground to use their discretion when dealing with special cases concerning the Movement Control Order (MCO).
He said this following an incident where two brothers in Sabah were forced to use their Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) cash aid to settle their fines for breaking the "one car, one person" ruling.
"I have always made it clear that wisdom be applied in exercising discretion when dealing with 'special cases'.
"I am very sure the men on the ground understand this and most have followed it. Maybe one or two cases eluded attention. I will keep on reminding them," he told the New Straits Times, here, today.
On whether the case would be reviewed, Abdul Hamid added that he would look into it.
An online portal highlighted the brothers' plight in which Joel Anam, 33, and Joni, 24, the breadwinners for their families were fined RM1,000 each, recently.
Joel who did not own a car, had hitched a ride with his brother from their village in Sook to Keningau to withdraw money to buy supplies when they were stopped at a roadblock.
Joel told the online portal that he rode with his brother as travelling on his own would have cost him about RM100.
The father of 3 works as a gardener in a school in Sook in the Pensiangan district. Joni who has one child had been a gardener at the same school but lost his job earlier this year.
Alliance for Safe Community (Ikatan) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye called on the government to review fines for these cases with special circumstances on the basis of compassion.
"In this case, using the cash aid to settle the fines defeats the purpose of the package which is meant to protect the poor," Lee said, adding that this may result in people like Joni being forced to go out and seek income during the MCO.
Lee said that discretionary powers must be clearly spelt out for the men on the ground.
As such he called on Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to come out with a standard operating procedure (SOP) on this.
"There must be a guideline on when they should exercise these powers and this should cover instances such as grocery runs and such where sole guardians have to bring along children, those with special needs or elderly relatives."
He was referring to previous complaints of police redirecting people with doctors' appointments to return home as guidelines on the "one person, one car" rule were not clearly spelt out.
He however stressed that conditions for review must be spelt out, while reiterating that no one was above the law.