VINCENT NG JC

The detainees were made the subject of a detention order against each of the two respective detainees by the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs (order dated 13 February 1991 in respect of the detainee in application No 44-39-91 and order dated 31 December 1991 in respect of the detainee in application No 44-45-91). The grounds upon which the detention orders were made were that the two detainees were involved in activities relating to the trafficking of dangerous drugs under s 6(1)Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985

Notwithstanding the grounds stated in the affidavits supporting the relevant applications, the short point taken by counsel for the detainees at the hearing of the matter was that the detention orders ought to be impugned due to breach of s 3(2)(c) of the Act and s 3(3) of the Ordinance in respect of both the above applications. Section 3(2)(c) of the Act reads as follows:

Any person arrested and detained under this section may be detained in police custody for a period not exceeding sixty days without an order of detention having been made in respect of him under subsection (1) of section 6:

Provided that –

…

(c) he shall not be detained for more than fourteen days unless a police officer of or above the rank of Deputy Superintendent has reported the circumstances of the arrest and detention to the Inspector-General or to a police officer designated by the Inspector-General in that behalf and the Inspector-General or police officer so designated by him, as the case may be, shall forthwith report the same to the Minister.

Section 3(3) of the Ordinance reads as follows:

Any person arrested and detained under this section may be detained in police custody for a period not exceeding sixty-days without an order of detention having been made in respect of him under section 4(1):

Provided that –

(a) he shall not be detained for more than twenty-four hours except with the authority of a police officer of or above the rank of Inspector;

(b) he shall not be detained for more than forty-eight hours except with the authority of a police officer of or above the rank of Assistant Superintendent;

(c) he shall not be detained for more than thirty days unless a police officer of or above the rank of Deputy Superintendent has reported the circumstances of the arrest and detention to the Inspector-General of Police or to a police officer designated by the Inspector-General in that behalf and, the Inspector-General or the police officer so designated by him, as the case may be, shall forthwith report the same to the Minister.

The material facts, so far as relevant to the point in issue, may be shortly stated thus:

(i) In Criminal Application No 44-39-1991 the affidavit of Penguasa Polis Loo Choo Huat (para 3 of encl 6) showed that he had reported the circumstances of the arrest and detention of the detainees to the designated officer Mohd Said bin Awang at 8.10 am on 31 December 1990 and the affidavit of the latter (para 4 of encl 7) showed that on the same day, he himself (the designated officer) had reported the same to the Minister. No mention was made of the time when the report to the Minister was made.

(ii) In Criminal Application No 44-45-1991, the affidavit of the designated officer Dato’ Haji Samsuri bin Arshad (para 1.3 of encl 3) showed that the Timbalan Penguasa Polis Encik Lee Suan Fatt had reported to him the circumstances of the arrest and detention of the detainee on 21 December 1990 and on the same day, he himself (the designated officer) had reported the same to the Minister. No mention was made of the time when the report was received by him or when the report to the Minister was made by him. It was however pointed out by the senior federal counsel to the court that in the affidavit of the Minister (para 5 of encl 5) the latter had said “Saya telah menerima laporan dan maklumat yang berkaitan dengan hal kegiatan penangkapan dan penahanan pemohon oleh pegawai yang ditetapkan dibawah s 3(3)(c) dan saya