KUANTAN – The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today failed in its bid for a revision against the magistrates’ court decision which rejected its application to obtain a remand order against a district police chief to assist in investigations into suspected corruption involving over RM1 million.
High court judge Datuk 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.
He said the magistrates’ decision based on the decision of the Temerloh High Court which ruled that Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) was not applicable to remand applications for offences investigated under the MACC Act 2009 is also correct because it is the “latest decision”.
On May 11, Temerloh High Court judicial commissioner Roslan Mat Nor said the MACC should use its own act and not rely on the CPC because Section 49 of the MACC Act empowers the MACC to allow for bail to be postponed so that it can continue investigations beyond the initial 24 hours of arrest.
“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 decision of the high court must be followed by the court below it,” said Zainal Azman in his brief judgment. – Bernama, July 7, 2023