PUTRAJAYA – Khor Khan Khai, a former special aide to the Penang assembly speaker, will serve 30 months in jail for outraging the modesty of a woman almost four years ago.
This ruling comes after he failed to obtain leave from the Court of Appeal to file an appeal against his conviction and jail sentence.
Khor, 43, must first obtain leave before he can be allowed to pursue his appeal in the Court of Appeal under Section 50 (2) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 as his case originated from the magistrates’ court.
The Court of Appeal three-member bench comprising justices Datuk Has Zanah Mehat, Datuk Nordin Hassan and Datuk Hashim Hamzah dismissed Khor’s leave application today.
On November 23, 2020, the Bukit Mertajam magistrates’ court found Khor guilty on a charge of outraging the modesty of the woman, then 31 years old, and sentenced him to 30 months’ jail.
Khor committed the offence at the third floor of an office in Jalan Sg Rambai, Central Seberang Prai, Penang, at 11.15pm on August 24, 2018.
He appealed to the high court against his conviction and jail term but lost his appeal, which was dismissed by the high court in Butterworth, Penang on December 21 last year.
He then filed an application seeking leave to pursue his appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In his leave application, Khor also sought a stay of execution of his jail sentence pending disposal of his appeal in the Court of Appeal.
Lawyer M. Athimulan who represented Khor urged the court to grant leave, saying that there were several legal questions that ought to be decided by the Court of Appeal.
Meanwhile, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari appearing for the prosecution said the questions raised by the defence were not legal questions, adding that leave should not be granted.
Section 50 (2) of the Courts of Judicature Act states that an appeal against any decision of the high court in respect of any criminal matter that was decided by a magistrates’ court would be confined to only questions of law. – Bernama, February 17, 2022
