A mere insult without intent to provoke a breach of peace does not constitute an offence under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955.

JUDGMENT

Aslam Zainuddin J:

[1] I have suo moto called for and examined the record of these proceedings in the Magistrates' Court at Shah Alam in the exercise of my powers of criminal revision under s 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code for the purpose of satisfying myself as to the correctness, legality and propriety of the conviction and sentence meted out for an offence under s 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 . This particular section of the Act is commonly known in local parlance by members of the legal fraternity as an offence of "maki polis" as the police in days gone by used to charge anyone insulting a police officer under this provision. But the question arises whether it is an offence under the said section to merely insult, without more, a policeman or anyone else for that matter. Let me now delve into this issue.

[2] But first things first. The accused who was unrepresented by counsel in the Court below, was charged as follows:

Pertuduhan

Bahawa kamu pada 4 Januari 2024 jam lebih kurang 3.47 petang di No 73, Jalan SS 15/5E, SS 15, Subang Jaya, Dalam Daerah Petaling, Di Dalam Negeri Selangor Darul Ehsan, telah di dapati berkelakuan kurang sopan terhadap Koh Swee Yong KPT: 510208-04-5479 dengan menghantar mesej kurang sopan terhadap penama tersebut dengan tujuan membangkitkan kemarahan untuk menganggu keamanan. Oleh yang demikian, kamu telah melakukan kesalahan yang dihukum dibawah s 14 Akta Kesalahan-Kesalahan Kecil 1955.

HUKUMAN: Denda tidak melebihi RM100/-

[3] The learned Deputy Public Prosecutor informed the Court that the prosecution decided to charge the accused with the lightest possible offence but in attempting to do so, fell into the error of charging the accused for an offence unknown in law based on the facts of the case.

[4] The facts of the case as can be gleaned from the submission of the learned Deputy Public Prosecutor is as below:

"4.1 Pengadu iaitu Koh Swe Yong merupakan Setiausaha Agong Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) manakala Tertuduh pula merupakan Naib Presiden dan bekas wakil rakyat Kapar.

4.2 Pengadu menyatakan disebabkan peristiwa pengunduran dan pelantikan Presiden PRM pada 5 November 2023 dan tindakan displin memecat keanggotaan yang dilakukan oleh Jawatankuasa Pusat Parti (JKP) dan Jawatankuasa Displin Parti (JD) terhadap kepimpinan parti, Tertuduh telah bertindak melanggar Peraturan dan Perlembagaan PRM dan Akta Pertubuhan.

4.3 Berikutan itu, sebagai Setiausaha Agung Parti, Pengadu telah bertindak menghantar surat pemakluman, peringatan dan keputusan siasatan AJKP dan JD atas aduan yang diterima tersebut kepada Tertuduh.

4.4 Pada 4 January 2024 jam lebih kurang 3.27 petang, semasa berada di rumah beralamat No 73, Jalan SS15, 15/2E, 47500 Subang Jaya, Pengadu telah terima pesanan suara mengatakan:

"woi Cina bxxx punya orang dan ayat mengatakan mengenai parti dan jangan berkomunikasi dengannya serta jangan hantar apa-apa surat datang ke rumah saya".

4.5 Selepas kejadian tersebut, Pengadu langsung tidak berjumpa dengan Tertuduh.

4.6 Pengadu kemudian membuat laporan polis mengenai kejadian melalui Subang Jaya Repot 1229/24 pada 31 January 2024 jam 4.36 petang setelah Tertuduh menyatakan mahu sepak dan datang ke rumah Pengadu menyebabkan Pengadu menjadi takut sekiranya apa-apa berlaku kepada dirinya serta harta bendanya."

The Law On Revision

[5] The Criminal Procedure Code states:

323. Power to call for records of subordinate Courts

(1) A Judge may call for and examine the record of any proceeding before any subordinate Criminal Court for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the correctness, legality or propriety of any finding, sentence or order recorded or passed, and as to the regularity of any proceedings of that subordinate Court.

(2) Orders made under ss 97 and 98 are not proceedings within the meaning of this section.

[5.1] This provision must be read together with s 31 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964,which confers and amplifies the powers and jurisdiction of the High Court in the exercise of its