JB High Court to review magistrate’s ‘no remand’ order

 

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is asking the Johor Bahru High Court to review a magistrate’s refusal to remand a suspect for investigation. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: A High Court in Johor Bahru has fixed June 22 to hear a revision application filed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) following a magistrate’s refusal to order the remand of a suspect who allegedly used false documents to make claims from a statutory body.

A source said the anti-graft body was notified of the hearing date last week.

The source, however, said it remained unclear whether a lawyer would appear to represent the suspect, who has been named the respondent in the application.

The suspect was produced by MACC before a magistrate in Johor Bahru on May 16 for a seven-day remand order to be issued under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to facilitate an investigation.

However, the magistrate dismissed the application on grounds that she was bound by a recent High Court ruling that the investigation agency must rely on remand procedures set out in Section 49 of the MACC Act 2009 and not those contained in the CPC.

The suspect is alleged to have used forged documents to obtain an undisclosed amount of money from the Social Security Organisation (Socso) during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The claims were said to have been made under the government’s Penjana Kerjaya programme, designed to assist employers whose incomes were affected by the lockdown.

FMT understands the High Court ruling has now hampered MACC’s investigations.

In a judgment dated May 11, then judicial commissioner Roslan Mat Nor, sitting in the Temerloh High Court, said Section 49 of the MACC Act gives the commission specific powers which it must use when carrying out investigations.

Exercising his revisionary power, Roslan, who was recently appointed a High Court judge, set aside remand orders issued against six policemen under Section 117 of the CPC for allegedly soliciting and accepting bribes amounting to RM5,000.

In his 43-page judgment, he said Section 49, when read in its entirety, only permits an arrest to be made at the tail-end of an investigation.

He said while the MACC Act allows a person to be arrested, the suspect must be freed on bail or bond if the investigation was incomplete.

However, the suspect can be rearrested without a warrant if bail conditions are breached.

Roslan also said MACC may detain a suspect for up to 24 hours and must seek a remand order under Section 49(4) of the MACC Act for a longer detention period.

In normal criminal investigations, an investigating authority would apply to a magistrate under Section 117 of the CPC to extend a suspect’s remand for seven to 14 days.

MACC has filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal, accompanied by a certificate of urgency. Case management has been scheduled for July 21 pending preparation by the High Court of the appeal records. - FMT