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12.
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A fifth consideration, again of a political nature, is that if CHU were accorded the favourable treatment proposed in your letter, the ensuing publicity would, in present circumstances, present just the sort of case which would be seized on by the local communist press as proof of the ir allegations concerning corruption within the Police Force and the 'conspiracy' which exists between this Government and Taiwan.
13.
It may rightly be argued that the third, fourth and fifth points discussed above are only incidental to the specific act of clemency under discussion. They are general considerations rather than particular. I would therefore now revert to the disciplinary proceedings and to paragraphs 6 and 7 above. The moral basis for deciding an appeal brought on the grounds that evidence does not support a finding of guilt is to allow the appeal only if the verdict is unreasonable or cannot be supported by evidence and is obviously and palpably wrong. Doubt on the part of the Appeal Tribunal caused by defects in the record is not a sufficient moral ground for setting aside a verdict. These considerations were certainly taken into account when CHU's petition of 18th February 1965 was rejected.
14.
The verdict of guilt or innocence in a criminal case is based on reasonable doubt and in cases such as this some element of doubt must always exist. In coming to a decision of fact in disciplinary proceedings, a police officer should, in interpreting the evidence before him, make full application of his professional experience and knowledge of the workings of the Force.
I am satisfied that this was done by both the adjudicating officer in this case and subsequently by the Commissioner.
15.
I have already mentioned the almost certain consequence of granting CHU an ex-gratia pension: that there would be demands for complete exoneration. If in the circumstances the Secretary of State considered that the verdict against CHU was unreasonable and could not be supported by the recorded evidence then it would follow that the finding of guilt should be quashed, However, if this had happened it seems almost certain in a political case of this kind that his services would have been dispensed with, using C.R. 56. This would probably have resulted in his receiving some kind of ex-gratia payment
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