Former Kedah Road Transport Department (JPJ) director Zulkifli Othman was today ordered by the High Court I Kuala Lumpur to enter his defence to a charge of receiving a RM1,000 bribe from the owner of a driving school, five years ago.

Judge Ghazali Cha, however, upheld the decision by the Sessions Court to acquit and discharge him from another corruption charge, of accepting a bribe in the form of a hotel stay at Hotel Concorde in Kuala Lumpur worth RM204.70 from Lim Kok Han, the owner of the driving school.

Ghazali said the prosecutor from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had proven a prima facie case against the accused whereby the RM1,000 bribe changed hands in  a “sting” operation from Lim to him.

Zulkifli, 52, was alleged to have accepted the bribe at Kelab De Macau, Lower Ground Floor, Hotel Renaissance in Kuala Lumpur at 1.30am on Aug 4 2007.

He had originally been charged with four counts of corruption but was acquitted and discharged by the Sessions Court from all the found charges at the end of the prosecution’s case. The prosecution subsequently appealed to the High Court on these two decisions by the Sessions Court.

The accused was represented by lawyers CV Prabakaran and Gurucharan Singh Sohan while deputy public prosecutor Mohd Asnawi Abu Hanipah acted for the MACC.

- Bernama