PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has ruled that the words "offensive" and "annoy" used in Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) are unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel, chaired by Federal Court judge Justice Lee Swee Seng, held that the words "offensive" and "annoy" in Section 233 were unconstitutional.
"We find the impugned words 'offensive' and 'annoy' in Section 233 constituting an offence to be inconsistent with Article 10(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution read with Article 8, and hence unconstitutional and void.
"It is not a permissible restriction to freedom of expression under our Federal Constitution.
"The appeal is allowed and the High Court order is set aside," Justice Lee said.
The court did not make any order as to costs.
"Being a constitutional matter, we make no order as to costs as no one is the winner but the Malaysian public where freedom of expression is concerned.
"We declare this decision to have prospective effect so as not to resurrect the past, which is better left interned," Justice Lee said.
Other judges on the Bench were Justices Hashim Hamzah and Azman Abdullah.
More to come
