Media Statement by DAP National Legal Bureau and Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor, Ramkarpal Singh on 5 August 2020.

I refer to the written reply of de facto law Minister, Takiyuddin Hassan in Parliament today that the MACC is free to reopen its investigations into former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng’s purchase of a bungalow if new evidence surfaces.

The MACC can investigate all it wants but it is barred from further pursuing a charge against Lim in respect of the said bungalow case as Article 7(2) of the Federal Constitution expressly prohibits this. The said Article 7(2) states:

(2) A person who has been acquitted or convicted of an offence shall not be tried again for the same offence except where the conviction or acquittal has been quashed and a retrial ordered by a court superior to that by which he was acquitted or convicted.

The rule in the above Article, commonly known as the rule against double jeopardy, applies clearly to Lim’s bungalow case as he was acquitted by the Penang High Court and the said acquittal was not appealed against by the Public Prosecutor.

As such, even if new evidence were to emerge in respect of the said case (which is denied), Lim cannot be charged again as a result of further investigations that may be carried out by the MACC for the same case.

In any event, the matter had been thoroughly investigated by the MACC in the past and the Attorney General Chambers later found that the evidence against Lim that was adduced in Court was weak, resulting in its decision not to pursue the charge further.

In the circumstances, it makes no sense to further investigate a case when such investigations cannot lead to a charge any longer.

Ramkarpal Singh,
DAP National Legal Bureau Chairman,
Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor.