The National Court in Waigani dismissed an attempt by Ambunti-Drekikir MP Johnson Wapupai to have the Commissioner of Police served with contempt charges, deeming it an abuse of process. Justice John Carey not only dismissed the application on Saturday morning but also recommended Mr. Wapupai's lawyer, David Dotaona, be referred to the PNG Law Society for unprofessional conduct. This follows the National Court orders for the Police Commissioner and the State through the office of the Solicitor General to join the proceeding which contained ‘very serious’ allegations against Mr. Manning. The urgent application by Mr. Wapupai and a non-commissioned officer, Tinol Pakiapon, sought orders for Manning to be brought to court and charged with contempt of a district court proceeding. They were contending that Manning should be found guilty of contempt of a criminal proceeding at the district court in Waigani, on a warrant of arrest application filed by Detective Senior Sergeant Tinol. They were seeking to have Manning charged with contempt for the special orders he made on March 20th, claiming that the directive was issued after Manning became aware of a warrant of arrest against him concerning allegations of rape of a minor in Talasea in West New Britain on June 9th, 2000. They also sought to have Manning charged over the special circular he released called the Sensitive Investigations Board, which they allegedly impinged upon a matter under deliberation by the district court. Last week before Saturday morning’s court decision, opposing views over the matter were raised in local media. Internal Security Minister, Peter Tsiamalili Jnr, had described the move as politicizing the Constitutional office of the Police Commissioner for the self-serving interests of an overly ambitious few, while Opposition leader, Douglas Tomuriesa called for Minister Tsiamalili to ‘rein in’ the police commissioner, and further went on to call for Mr. Manning to step down from office in light of these serious allegations. Mr. Manning last week was reappointed for another four years in office.