Govt told to return vessel to trader

 Justice Johan Lee quashes the forfeiture of the vessel owned by Heng Ooi Hong and sets aside an order revoking another person’s fishing licence.

The Alor Setar High Court ruled that the sessions court exceeded its statutory powers when it ordered the forfeiture of a fishing vessel and revoked a third party’s fishing licence. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA:

The Alor Setar High Court has ordered the government to return a vessel belonging to a trader on grounds that it was wrongfully forfeited.

Justice Johan Lee quashed the forfeiture of the vessel PKFA 9650, owned by Heng Ooi Hong, and set aside an order revoking another person’s fishing licence.

Heng pleaded guilty in April to three charges under Sections 8(a), 11(3)(a) and 14(4)(b) of the Fisheries Act 1985 at the sessions court.

For the offence under Section 8(a), Heng operated the vessel without a valid fishing licence. For the offences under Sections 11(3)(a) and 14(4)(b), he used unlicensed trawl net fishing equipment and operated the vessel using a fishing licence belonging to another person.

Heng was fined RM12,000 for all three charges.

A revision was filed against the lower court’s forfeiture order on the vessel and the revocation of the third party’s licence.

Johan said a mandatory forfeiture order could only be granted for convictions under certain provisions in the Fisheries Act.

However, Section 14(4)(b) – under which Heng pleaded guilty – was “conspicuously absent” from the statutory list, said Johan.

“The sessions court acted entirely outside its statutory jurisdiction by ordering a blanket forfeiture,” he added.

Regarding the revocation of the third party’s licence, Johan said the sessions court never gave the licence holder a right to be heard before revoking it.

“Having legally acknowledged and convicted the accused on the premise that the licence was registered under a third party, it is a grave miscarriage of justice to then cancel it without ever calling the person in question to enter a defence,” said the judge. - FMT