Charges for criminal breach of trust must detail the specific contractual implications; failure to do so violates the constitutional right to a fair trial.

JUDGMENT

Noorin Badaruddin J:

[1] This is an application by the applicant, Anuar bin Ghazali who was charged in the Magistrate's Court in Petaling Jaya on 4 April 2019 for two charges under s 405 of the Penal Code ("PC" ) seeking inter alia for the amended charges preferred against him by the respondent be set aside, struck out or stayed in limine on the following grounds:

(i) that the charges do not comply with s 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code (" CPC ");

(ii) that the non-compliance with s 154 infringes the applicant's constitutional rights and renders the proceedings in the subordinate Court null and void;

(iii) that s 156 CPC cannot cure objections towards defective charges raised at the outset of trial; and

(iv) that s 156 CPC cannot prevent a Court from striking out proceedings that are abuse of process.

[2] This Court has allowed the application and the reasons now follow.

Facts

[3] The applicant is the Chief Executive Officer and one of the directors of Carriercorp Petroleum Sdn Bhd ("the company") at the material time. The company is stated to be trading in supplying fuel/petroleum to suppliers and its customers.

[4] The applicant was charged in the Magistrate's Court in Petaling Jaya for two charges under s 405 of the PC punishable under s 406 PC.

[5] The original charges preferred against the applicant are as follows:

Pertuduhan Pertama

Bahawa kamu pada 16 December 2015 di Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah dalam daerah Petaling, di negeri Selangor, yang diamanahkan penguasaan ke atas harta iaitu minyak Jet A1 berjumlah 16380 liter yang mana kamu telah melakukan satu pecah amanah jenayah berkenaan dengan harta tersebut dan oleh itu kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan yang boleh dihukum di bawah s 406 Kanun Keseksaan.

Pertuduhan Kedua

Bahawa kamu pada 18 December 2015 di Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah dalam daerah Petaling, di negeri Selangor, yang diamanahkan penguasaan ke atas harta iaitu minyak Jet A1 berjumlah 20000 liter yang mana kamu telah melakukan satu pecah amanah jenayah berkenaan dengan harta tersebut dan oleh itu kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan yang boleh dihukum di bawah s 406 Kanun Keseksaan.

(Hereinafter referred to collectively as "two original charges")

[6] On 4 April 2019, after the two original charges were read to the applicant but before he gave a plea of not guilty, learned counsel for the applicant raised a preliminary objection towards the two original charges on the ground that they did not comply with s 154 of the CPC , namely that the two original charges failed to specify the method in which the applicant is said to have committed the offences.

[7] The documents under s 51A CPC were served on the applicant on the mention date on 8 May 2019.

[8] A notice of application dated 27 May 2019 ("NOA No. 1") was filed by the applicant in the Magistrate's Court which encompassed the preliminary objection raised by applicant's counsel on 4 April 2019.

[9] During the mention on 24 June 2019 (and before the hearing of the NOA No. 1), the learned Deputy Public Prosecutor ("DPP") preferred two amended charges on the applicant which read as follows:

Pertuduhan Pindaan Pertama

Bahawa kamu pada 16 December 2015 di Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, dalam daerah Petaling, di negeri Selangor yang diamanahkan dengan harta iaitu minyak Jet berjumlah 20,000 liter milik A1 (Ab Jalil bin Ninggal (no. K/p: 540721-04-5215)) iaitu pemegang saham syarikat Carriercorp Petroleum telah melakukan pecah amanah jenayah iaitu dengan curangnya melepaskan harta itu dengan melanggar apa-apa kontrak yang menetapkan cara bagaimana amanah itu perlu disempurnakan, yang nyata (atau disifatkan ada) mengenai penyempurnaan amanah itu dan oleh itu kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan yang boleh dihukum di bawah s 406 Kanun Keseksaan.

Pertuduhan Pindaan Kedua

Bahawa kamu pada 18 December 2015 di Lapangan Terbang Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah, dalam daerah Petaling, di negeri Selangor yang diamanahkan dengan harta iaitu minyak Jet