PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld the 27-month prison sentence imposed on a former waiter for violating his restriction order under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA), which required him to remain indoors between 8pm and 6am.
A three-member bench led by Justice Noorin Badaruddin, sitting with Justices Datuk Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Datuk Meor Hashim Abdul Hamid, dismissed Kee Wen Wei's appeal last Friday (Oct 30).
In the grounds of judgment uploaded on the judiciary's website on Friday, Justice Noorin said Kee had failed to establish that the supervision order was automatically invalidated.
She said the court found that the order remained operative during the material period, and that the appellant could not establish the invalidity of Section 15 of POCA by relying on a Federal Court decision that declared Section 4 of the same Act unconstitutional.
"We find no sufficient basis to disturb the decision of the learned High Court judge affirming the appellant's (Kee's) conviction," she said.
Justice Noorin said there was no finding before the appellate court that Section 15 had been declared unconstitutional, nor did the appellant demonstrate that the supervision order had been set aside by a competent court.
The Prevention of Crime Board had ordered Kee to be placed under supervision from March 4, 2020, to March 3, 2022, during which he was subject to several restrictions, including a requirement to reside within the Hulu Kinta sub-district in the Kinta district of Perak. The order was imposed on him for involvement in car theft.
He was also required to remain at his residence between 8pm and 6am unless granted special permission to the contrary by the district police chief.
On Oct 17, 2024, the Ipoh Magistrate's Court convicted Kee under Section 15(4) of POCA for violating the supervision order by failing to remain at his house between the specified times.
The offence was committed at a house in Taman Ipoh Timur, Ipoh, Perak, at 4.45am on Nov 28, 2020.
The Ipoh High Court dismissed his appeal and upheld the Oct 17, 2024 Magistrate's Court's decision. On Sept 8 last year, the Court of Appeal granted him leave to appeal.
The defence challenged the validity of Kee's supervision order issued under Section 15 of POCA, following the Federal Court's 2022 ruling in the Nivesh Nair Mohan case, which declared Section 4 of the same Act - the foundational basis for Kee's detention - unconstitutional.
The prosecution, meanwhile, contended that the constitutional invalidation of Section 4 did not automatically nullify supervision orders issued under Section 15 before the Federal Court's ruling. - Bernama
