Raja Azlan Shah CJ (Malaya)

(delivering the judgment of the Court): The appellant was convicted of 3 charges under section 57(1) of the Internal Security Act, 1960, to wit, in control of a 7.65 Walther automatic pistol, a 9 mm Erfurt 96 automatic Luger pistol and a 6.35 Beretta automatic pistol; in control of six rounds of 9 mm ammunition, five rounds of .32 ammunition, and 2 primed hand grenades; and in possession of 35 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, and 29 rounds of .32 ammunition. He put up 25 grounds of appeal some of which overlapped. In our opinion there was no ground whatever upon which the appeal could be allowed. Consequently we dismissed the appeal. We now deal with the main points raised in the petition of appeal.

First, the preliminary objection. It was contended by Mr. Jagjit Singh on behalf of the appellant that the Attorney-General had exercised his discretion improperly and/or unlawfully in charging the accused with offences under the Internal Security Act. He argued that at the worst the appellant was only a common criminal and there was nothing to suggest that this was a case against national security. The short answer can be found in the judgment of the Privy Council