There’s the rule and then there’s the exception to the rule. The rule is that we don’t congratulate public officials for doing their job well we take it for granted that they should. The exception is that today, we must. Today, as recent events have proved, we cannot take anything for granted anymore.

So here’s to the DPP. For advising the police to the ridiculous provisional charge of “having wilfully and unlawfully used a telecommunication service for the purpose of causing needless anxiety” in breach of the ICT act, against MSM activist Yogida Sawmynaden, less than a month after the fact. “To substantiate such a charge, the enquiry must disclose the use of a telecommunication service”, explains the DPP’s office. Yet, the enquiry “falls short of establishing that the data captured through the mobile phone were indeed transmitted or received through a service provider”.

In other words, to be able to prove that charge, Sawmynaden should have used his phone to make a call or send a message. He only used the device as a camera so basically he wasn’t using a phone at all.

Yet the police didn’t let that little bit of information bother them. They arrested Sawmynaden because Nandanee Soornack was bothered by the fact that he took pictures of her. They arrested him and yet they didn’t know what for. Because strictly speaking, legally, he had done nothing wrong. OK he was a bit rude – I wouldn’t be happy if I saw somebody taking my photo and I can assure you that I would give him a good telling off but I can also assure you that no police officer would arrest the man.

Any lawyer knows that there is no law that prohibits people from taking other people’s photo save the Prime minister, that is. He seemed to think, in Parliament when he was being questioned on the matter that Sawmynaden had done something wrong.

Yet after arresting him – clearly illegally – the police realised that there was no suitable charge to lodge against the MSM activist. So they quickly cooked something up about a breach of the ICTA act, without thinking things through. Arrest first, think of a charge later.

The man’s phones in the meantime were confiscated – while photos of Soornack had by then been published right left and centre. Two police inspectors were transferred because they knew, even if others didn’t, that the confiscation of a person’s private property was illegal. They sought to do their job properly and they were punished because of that.

Yet the Prime minister justified their punishment in Parliament, saying – ironically enough – that they were guilty of “gross violation of police procedures”!

Nonetheless the DPP said on Wednesday there was no case to answer. Which means that everything that had happened leading to the confiscation of the phone and Sawmynaden’s arrest were superfluous.

Thank you DPP for setting the record straight.

PM, feel free to pretend you don’t know what this means.