A POLICE team has been ordered to investigate the reason for the dismissal of a case because of the police prosecution's failure to produce disclosures in court.
Magistrate Yohan Liyanage discharged a man on Monday when the police prosecutor told the court his file could not be located.
It was the man's fourth appearance after the case was adjourned three times.
Commissioner of Police Brigadier-General Ioane Naivalurua has directed that an investigation be conducted to determine how the files were missing while in their care.
"What happened cannot be entertained by the force and the audit team has been tasked to look into why the files were missing in the first place," said Chief Operations Officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu.
ACP Tudravu is leading the team and has confirmed that similar cases will be investigated.
"The team conducting the investigation will also look at other cases in the past that have been discharged due to similar circumstances and find out the reasons that led to the unsuccessful prosecution.
"This is a serious matter and the investigation team will comb through our files and make sure everything is in order."
ACP Tudravu said the force was disappointed with the matter, adding that police prosecutors could not afford to do such things because the prosecution stage determined the outcome of a successful investigation.
"We cannot afford to be turning up to court without files and we cannot afford to make similar mistakes," he said.