Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) lauds Johor Baru High Court Judicial Commissioner, M Gunalan, for ruling on Thursday April 10 that power utility company Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and a land surveyor have been found guilty of contempt of court for deliberately suppressing material evidence with the manifest intention of interfering and obstructing the due administration of justice in a squatter land case during a 2011 trial.

The 40ha land area in Plentong, Johor is now being developed on a commercial joint-venture basis known as Sunway Lenang Heights.

According to Malaysiakini , the land surveyor, was hired by TNB to prepare a detailed survey of the land, had testified in court that he never visited the site to do the survey. But a copy of the detailed survey, titled ‘Detailed land survey and electric cable lines for Lot 49260, Kamping Plentong, Johor Baru’ was done by the land surveyor’s company, indicating that the TNB poles and lines were indeed erected and installed on the disputed property.

In this case, the Johor Baru High Court has done an excellent job. The court must continue to impose more severe sentences; if possible, a maximum sentence must be meted out to deter others from getting involved not only contempt of court but also if there is any element of corruption. The message must be clear: that the price one has to pay is hefty, if one continues to be involved in unscrupulous activities.

It was also reported in Malaysiakini that a similar complaint was made to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). MACC should not just stop there and T-M urges the MACC to up its ante and meets public expectation. MACC should investigate not only this case but several other similar cases, if any. The MACC should look for leads.

With fraud and corruption risk so high on the domestic and international agenda, it is essential that companies and corporate likewise should actively address these risks. For a growing number of top executives, the pressure to meet revenue growth targets is undermining their commitment to comply with policies, ethical conduct standards; the firm adheres to the fundamental principles of those standards and acts in a way that respects those principles and the law.

The competitive landscape may continue to be distorted by unethical conduct without integrity and transparency.