KUALA LUMPUR Plans by Malaysia's smallest state to impose a mandatory night curfew on teenagers under 18 have been shot down by the federal government, reports said Saturday.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs Rais Yatim was quoted as saying by The Star that no state government could impose a curfew arbitrarily to curb a person's freedom.

"A person's right to be free is enshrined and guaranteed under the law. Curfews cannot be imposed at anyone's whims and fancy," he said.

The proposal by the northern Perlis state government was unconstitutional and would amount to "false imprisonment," he warned.