The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today allowed a housewife to initiate contempt proceedings against the inspector-general police.

Justice Ghazali Cha made the ruling following the refusal of the police force to comply with a writ of habeas corpus ordering the release of the housewife, Lim Mui Cheng.

This comes after police violation of the administration of justice by re-arresting Lim within the court compound on May 27. She has since been detained at the Batu Gajah rehabilitation centre in Perak.

Her re-arrest came despite another High Court judge, Justice Mohd Sufian Abdul Razak, ordering Lim's release on May 25. She was brought to the High Court two days later for the release order to be processed.

Lim, 42, had been held in Muar, Johor, by police under the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act, under which one can be detained for 60 days. She was first detained on April 27.

On Wednesday, Lim's counsel N Sivananthan filed an ex-parte application for leave to cite the IGP for contempt of court following her re-arrest on May 27.

Following today's decision, Sivananthan said he planned to file a proper application on Monday to cite the IGP for contempt. He hopes to get an early hearing date.