High Court Reduces Ex-Judge's 6 Month Jail Sentence To 1 Day For Pocketing RM5,000
The former judge was previously sentenced to six months in jail by a lower court.
By Yap Wan Xiang - 05 Jan 2024, 08:55 AM
Cover image via On Wednesday, 3 January, the Shah Alam High Court reduced the sentence of a former judge from six months to one day of jail for the crime of receiving RM5,000 without consideration
According to the New Straits Times, Judge Hasbullah Adam dismissed 50-year-old Azmil Muntapha Abas' appeal to challenge Session Court's conviction in October 2022 against him, as he found no meritorious reason to do so.
"I found that the conviction is sound and decided that the appeal against the conviction is dismissed.
"However, the court allowed the appeal against the sentence by setting aside the lower court's sentence and replacing it with a one-day imprisonment and a fine of RM12,000," Hasbullah said.
He explained that Azmil was found guilty under Section 165 of the Penal Code for accepting any valuable items without consideration, which is punishable by up to two years in jail or a fine, or both. However, he noted that the provision does not mandate imprisonment.
"This is different from Section 17(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which stipulates a maximum imprisonment of 20 years and a fine five times the value of the gratification," Hasbullah added.
In October 2022, Session Court judge Rasyihah Ghazali originally sentenced Azmil to six months in jail and fined him RM25,000
In his judgement, Rasyihah said Azmil's defence failed to raise a reasonable doubt against the prosecution's case.
Azmil was found guilty, in his capacity as the Kuala Kubu Bharu Session Court judge, of obtaining RM5,000 from a person whom he knew had a connection with his official function involving court proceedings for six accused in criminal cases.
The six accused were charged under Section 9 of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
Azmil was granted a stay of execution pending an appeal at the High Court, with the bail amount increased from RM6,000 to RM12,000.
