KUALA LUMPUR: The government is expected to amend a provision in the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) during the next parliament sitting in March.
Attorney-General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas said this today when submitting before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah to explain his ‘inconsistent’ stance on Section 13 of Sosma which denied the court granting bail to accused charged under the Act.
Thomas had previously instructed the prosecution in the case of accused charged with supporting and possessing items related to terror group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to challenge the constitutionality of Section 13 of Sosma, arguing that it was constitutional.
However, he made it clear today that he supported the decision made by High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali that Section 13 of Sosma was unconstitutional.
According to Thomas, the amendment was part of the government’s effort to fulfil its manifesto in the last general election.
Section 13 of Sosma states that the court was prohibited from considering the granting of bail to a person charged for an offence under Chapter 6A of the Penal Code.
"I have already issued a media release that we are not going to appeal (against Judge Nazlan's declaration),” Thomas said.
On Nov 29, Nazlan declared that Section 13 of Sosma was ultra vires to Articles 8 and 121 of the Federal Constitution.
Nazlan in his judgment said the judicial powers or the power to adjudicate in civil or criminal matters were exclusive of the courts.
However, judges Sequerah and Muhammad Jamil Hussin who presided cases against Seremban Jaya assemblyman P. Gunasekaran and DAP member V. Suresh Kumar, questioned whether they were bound by Nazlan’s declaration.
Sequerah said his main concern was that Section 13 of Sosma was still in the statute.
Gunasekaran and Suresh Kumar were charged with supporting and possessing items related to LTTE in October last year.
They were detained in prison after they were denied bail on charges under Sosma in October last year.
Counsel Ramkarpal Singh who represented the duo, however, said the court was ‘indirectly’ bound by Nazlan’s declaration as the latter made his declaration based on landmark 2017 Federal Court case of Semenyih Jaya Sdn Bhd v. Pentadbir Tanah Daerah Hulu Langat.
Sequerah and Jamil then fixed Feb 5 for their decisions to grant bail against the accused and their declaration on Section 13 of Sosma.
On Nov 1, Sessions Court Judge Rozina Ayob ruled that there was merit in the application made by the defence under Section 13(2) of Sosma to refer constitutional matters concerning bail to the High Court.
Besides Gunasekaran and Suresh Kumar, the others are taxi driver V. Balamurugan, 37; postman, S. Teeran, 38; scrap metal trader A. Kalaimughilan, 28; comoany chief executive officer S. Chandru, 38; technician S. Arivainthan, 27; storekeeper S.Thanagaraj, 26; security guard M. Pumugan, 29; school teacher Sundram Renggan @ Rengasamy, 52; and businessman B. Subramaniam, 57.
They were charged in separate Sessions Courts here and several other states on Oct 29 and 31 with allegedly having links with LTTE.