Court quashes company ex-director's jail sentence

Judicial Commissioner Datuk Aslam Zainuddin made the decision on Datuk Abul Hasan Mohamed Rashid, 77, based on the preliminary issue raised by Abul Hasan in his appeal.

The preliminary issue was on the territorial jurisdiction of the Sessions Courts, whereby his trial should have taken place in Johor Bahru and not the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court.

Aslam in his judgment said the law clearly stated that the local limits of jurisdiction for the Sessions Court in Peninsular Malaysia is state-wise, in adherence to the Courts (Subordinate Courts) Order 1955.

"For example, the Sessions Court in Johor falls under the territorial boundaries of the state of Johor and so on and so forth," he said.

Aslam said that he acknowledges that the prosecution had argued that the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court should have the same territorial jurisdiction as the High Courts.

"However, the argument was flawed as the 1955 order had already spelt out the territorial jurisdiction of the Sessions Courts in Selangor, which included Kuala Lumpur at that time," he said.

He further said the court did not go into the merits of Abul Hasan's appeal but touched only on the preliminary issue on the boundaries.

"I don't have to go into the merits of the appeal. I, therefore, declare the proceedings in the Sessions Court below were a nullity and quash the conviction and sentence of the appellant.

"On the issue of whether there should be a retrial or not, I decline to make a ruling on it as this is within the purview of the public prosecutor. I am sure the public prosecutor in his wisdom will decide based on the law and public interest as well as the fact that this case culminated in 2007," he said.

Deputy Public Prosecutor from Securities Commission Mohd Hafiz Mohd Yusof prosecuted while the accused was represented by lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed.

Abul Hasan, 77, was first charged in Kuala Lumpur on March 13, 2009.

According to the charge sheet, he allegedly committed CBT on RM26,045,473.94 of the company's funds at the Multicode Electronics Industries office in Menara Pelangi, No 2, Jalan Kuning, Taman Pelangi in Johor Bahru between March 23 and March 28, 2007.

On Sept 22, 2011, the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court had sentenced Abul Hasan to six years’ jail for the offence under section 409 of the Penal Code involving over RM26 milion of funds belonging to the company.

The accused then filed an appeal and was granted of execution on the jail term pending appeal.