Criminal Court on Sunday acquitted deputy Jumhoory Party (JP) leader and Kinbidhoo lawmaker Abdulla Riyaz of obstructing the legal duty of a state official.
Police had summoned Riyaz on March 27 this year to seize his phone under a court order to check his chat and call logs. The former police chief was charged obstructing the legal duty of a state official after he refused to give the pass code of his phone to the police.
Riyaz's lawyers had argued during the trial that the original court order had not obligated their client to give his pin code which in itself entailed as the right to silence.
Prosecutors however, countered by insisting that the court order had allowed police access to the information on Riyaz's phone which could not be accessed without the pass code.
The three judge bench dismissed the prosecution witnesses over some discrepancies in their testimonies.
The bench said the conflicting testimonies was insufficient to prove the charges against Riyaz.
Speaking to reporters after the acquittal, the opposition lawmaker hailed the ruling as a major victory for the opposition efforts to reform the judiciary.
