The Shah Alam High Court has quashed the conviction and RM100 fine against former PKR leader S Manikavasagam, granting him a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.
The former Kapar MP’s counsel M Manoharan confirmed that judge Aslam Zainuddin earlier today allowed their revision application against the Shah Alam Magistrate’s Court ruling last month which found him guilty of causing breach of the peace under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955.
Manoharan said the High Court found that the charge over the alleged use of insulting words last January was defective and groundless.
The lawyer said Aslam ruled that while Manikavasagam (above) pleaded guilty to the charge, the case facts presented before the lower court did not fit the offence of breach of the peace.
Manoharan said the High Court found that the way the charge was drafted made it look like the alleged insulting words were made between the ex-Kapar MP and another individual, rather than made in public.
The lawyer said Aslam ordered the RM100 fine refunded to Manikavasagam.
A wake-up call
Manoharan added that his client was quite happy with the outcome, adding that the ruling serves as a wake-up call for others facing a similar charge not to just easily plead guilty to it on the basis that the penalty was only RM100, hence leading to a miscarriage of justice.
The case never went for full trial as the ex-Kapar MP pleaded guilty when first brought to the lower court to face the charge last month.
On Feb 13, magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu slapped an RM100 fine on Manikavasagam, ordering the former Kuala Selangor PKR chief to be jailed for three days if he failed to pay the fine. He paid the fine then.
According to the charge sheet, Manikavasagam was accused of committing the offence at a house in Subang Jaya at 3.27pm on Jan 4.
He was charged under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 of behaving rudely towards another person by sending an insulting message with the intention to incite anger and breach the peace.
Under the section, those found guilty of using indecent, threatening, abusive, or insulting words with the intent to provoke a breach of peace, or whereby a breach of the peace is likely to be occasioned shall be liable to a fine not exceeding RM100.
In mitigation, Manikavasagam informed the court that he held a sight disability card but was ready to pay the fine.
He served as Kapar MP from 2008 to 2013.
After his PKR membership was suspended in 2017, Manikavasagam resigned from his post and left the party in 2018 to join Parti Rakyat Malaysia where he became its vice-president.
He contested in the 2018 general election for the Kapar parliamentary seat and Meru state seat under the PRM ticket but lost his deposit after gaining only 525 votes in Kapar and 346 in Meru.
Deputy public prosecutor Shahrul Ekhsan Hasim prosecuted in today’s High Court proceedings. - Mkini
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