ENFORCEMENT of laws is a fair process. Whenever a complaint is made to the authorities, the law allows or rather demands the authorities conduct investigations before deciding whether to press charges against the suspect.

You must remember that when a case is brought to court and charge is proffered against a person, the suspect becomes the accused and the prosecutor must prove its case beyond any reasonable doubt before the accused becomes a convict.

If the prosecutor fails to back the charges with documentary, circumstantial or other evidence, the case fails and is thrown out of court at the expense of taxpayer.

The recent allegation that MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki breached Securities Commission laws raised some eyebrows.

This short article intends to analyse and briefly discuss the process that the law accords when such an allegation is made or a report lodged.

The process of law

The Securities Commission Act 1993 contains provisions empowering the commission to appoint investigating officers (section 125).

Furthermore, section 128 provides for the commission to initiate investigations when a report of any breach is made.

In accordance with the act, and based on a complaint made against Azam’s alleged breach of section 25(4) of the Securities Industry (Central Depositories Act 1991), the commission did initiate an investigation on the conduct and came out with a finding as follows: “The SC has concluded its enquiry and, based on the evidence gathered, is not able to conclusively find/show that a breach of securities law under section 25(4) has occurred.”

In layman’s terms: from the concluded inquiry of the investigating committee of the Securities Commission, the committee has failed to find any proof to conclude a breach has occurred.

What is important to note is that the inquiry came to an end with no evidence to charge Azam.

It is only natural that when the authorities (in this case the Securities Commission) find there is no evidence to show any breach, a charge cannot be proffered against Azam.

To add further, when even at investigation stage it is found there is no basis for an alleged breach, further process of suspecting and prosecuting a person must stop.

Investigation is the crux of any alleged wrongdoing and when there is no such finding, the law cannot be used as a weapon but must be turned to act as a shield to protect the innocent. – January 19, 2022.

* Al Sabri Ahmad Kabri is an advocate and solicitor.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.