Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission director (Legal and Prosecution Division) Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin.
JOHOR BARU: The High Court here has decided that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) can remand suspects under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) for offences investigated under the MACC Act 2009.
High Court Judge Datuk Abu Bakar Katar handed down the decision here on Wednesday (July 12), saying that when conducting its investigation, MACC can obtain a remand application under Section 117 of the CPC.
He said Parliament enacted the MACC Act to tackle corruption and that needed to be given priority.
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“The provisions of Section 49 of the Act cannot be read rigidly to the point that it affects the commission’s investigation process.
“The court also feels that the provisions of Section 49 of the Act need to be read with Section 29(3) during its investigation, which allows for remand applications under Section 117 of the CPC,” he said in his judgment.
Outside the courtroom, MACC director (Legal and Prosecution Division) Datuk Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said the decision “was a win for MACC”.
“The Johor Baru High Court has discussed in depth the process that allows MACC to remand suspects under Section 117 of the CPC.
“Following the recent Temerloh High Court’s decision that rejected MACC’s bid to obtain a remand order, many cases had also failed to see a remand application obtained.
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“I believe that after this, there will be no issue for MACC to obtain a remand application and the Johor Baru High Court’s decision (may be referred to) for future cases,” he added.
On July 7, the MACC failed in its bid for a revision against the Kuantan Magistrate's Court decision which rejected its application to obtain a remand order against a district police chief (OCPD) to assist in a probe of suspected corruption involving over RM1mil.
Temerloh High Court judge Justice Zainal Azman Ab Aziz said there was no need for him to interfere with the decision because the magistrate did not make a mistake and had made a right and proper decision.
“The decision of a higher court will bind the lower courts, (for example) if the Federal Court makes a decision, it must be followed by the Court of Appeal and the High Court and the decision of the High Court must be followed by the court below it,” said Justice Zainal Azman in his brief judgment.
He said the magistrate's decision was based on the earlier decision of the Temerloh High Court which ruled that Section 117 of the CPC was not applicable to remand applications for offences investigated under the MACC Act 2009.
On May 11, Temerloh High Court Judicial Commissioner Roslan Mat Nor said MACC should use its own Act and not rely on the CPC because Section 49 of the MACC Act 2009 empowers it to allow for bail to be deferred in order to continue investigations beyond the initial 24 hours of arrest.
