MELAKA: The Vice-Chancellor of a private university claimed trial at the Sessions Court in Ayer Keroh here to an alleged offence of deceiving the university’s former vice-chancellor over the appointment of a chief consultant involving a payment of RM20,000.
The plea of the accused, Prof Dr G. Jayakumar, 63, was recorded before Judge Elesabet Paya Wan on Wednesday (Jan 21).
Based on the charge, the accused, who was then a senior lecturer at the university, allegedly deceived Jaspal Singh, who was then the vice-chancellor, into appointing a lecturer from another universtiy as the Chief Consultant for the Curriculum Programme and Academic Development.
The appointment was allegedly made to develop an occupational therapy programme module with a payment of RM20,000, despite the appointment contravening the individual’s employment contract.
The offence was allegedly committed at a university office in the Melaka Tengah district on May 3, 2021.
The charge was framed under Section 417 of the Penal Code, which provides for imprisonment of up to five years, or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Earlier, the prosecution, led by DPP of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Sharina Farhana Nor Sa’ari, proposed a bail of RM20,000 with an additional condition that the accused report once a month to the MACC Melaka office.
The accused was represented by lawyer Azrul Zulkifli Stork.
The court later granted bail of RM20,000 with one surety and fixed March 9 as the re-mention date.
