AN MP, who is also a lawyer, said there was no such thing as “case settled” in criminal law, referring to the alleged assault of an e-hailing driver last Monday.
Hassan Karim said when a report is lodged, it is called the “first information report”, or in short, FIR.
“As soon as the police receive such a report, and if physical assault is committed, it is a criminal offence under the Penal Code. The police’s job is to call in the assailant for investigation.
“The police also need to send the victim to a public hospital nearby to examine the injury inflicted,” he said in a post on Facebook.
An investigation must be opened and police must take the assailant’s statement under Section 122 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
“If the investigation has to take longer than 24 hours, then the assailant has to be remanded under Section 117 of CPC, with the police presenting the suspect before a magistrates’ court or a police station to obtain a remand order,” he said.
Hassan said a case cannot be “settled” just because the victim made a second police report saying so.
“What matters is the first police report made, ie, the FIR,” he said.
He said the term “case settled” refers to “tort offences”, in which the victim does not intend to take civil action over an incident.
“However, criminal offences are within the jurisdiction of the police.
“Even if the victim later pulls back the police report, or makes a second police report that says the case has been resolved, from the standpoint of law, this does not affect or stop police action.
“This is the position of law under the rule of law in Malaysia.”
He said that under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, all citizens are equal before the law and it does not matter who the assailant is.
“The matter cannot be taken lightly,” he stressed.
Under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution, Hassan said every citizen, including persons with disabilities, is guaranteed their liberty.
Yesterday, Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Mohd Isa said the investigation into the alleged assault was still ongoing despite earlier reports that the case was “settled” after the victim allegedly accepted RM800 from a representative of the assailant.
Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has hit out at attempts to link the royal institution to the alleged assault of an e-hailing driver. – June 1, 2024
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