Teacher acquitted of leaking UPSR questions

Judge says change from "Kementerian Pelajaran" to “Kementerian Pendidikan” made the teacher’s appointment to handle UPSR papers no longer valid and letter only had a stamped signature.

KUALA KANGSAR: The Sessions Court here today acquitted and discharged an English Language and Tamil teacher for possession of leaked question papers for the 2014 Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR).

Judge Niran Tan Kran ordered P Uma Mageswari to be freed after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.

In the judgment, Niran said Uma Mageswari had accepted her appointment as an officer responsible for handling the UPSR question papers on Aug 23, 2011, from the Education Ministry, which was then known as “Kementerian Pelajaran”.

“However, in 2013 the ministry’s name was changed to ‘Kementerian Pendidikan’, hence making the appointment no longer valid.

“Apart from that, the instrument of appointment was not signed by the minister concerned then (2011), which was Muhyiddin Yassin, but only a stamped signature,” he added.

The court also ordered Uma Mageswari’s handphone, which was an exhibit in the case, and bail money of RM3,000, to be returned to her.

Uma Mageswari, 28, was charged with committing the offence by having images of the copies of the UPSR examination papers for the Science subject on her handphone at her school, Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) Keruh, Pengkalan Hulu, on Sept 10, 2014.

The charge was made under Section 8(1)(c)(iii) of the Official Secrets Act 1972 (Act 88).

Deputy Public Prosecutor N Jayanthi prosecuted, while Uma Mageswari was represented by lawyers M Kulasegaran and Augustine Anthony.