The prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal of businessman Nik Sapeia Nik Yusoff for allegedly causing hurt by spraying a dangerous substance at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 2006 is incompetent, the Court of Appeal was told today.

Nik Sapeia’s counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told the three-member Court of Appeal panel that he notified the prosecution and the court late yesterday that he was objecting to the appeal.

He said the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the prosecution’s appeal because the appeal did not fulfill the requirement set in Section 50(2) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (CJA).

Muhammad Shafee said that since the matter had arisen from the Magistrate’s Court, the prosecution had to apply for leave from the Court of Appeal to bring the matter up for appeal, which the prosecution had successfully obtained.    

However, he said, the question of law posed by the prosecution for the court’s determination did not satisfy Section 50(2) of the CJA because the question had included both the law and the facts of the case.

Muhammad Shafee said Section 50 (2) stated that the appeal should be confined to only questions of law which had arisen in the course of the appeal.  

Deputy public prosecutor Lailawati Ali said she only received the notice this morning and needed time to reply to Muhammad Shafee’s submission.

Court of Appeal Judge Mohtaruddin Baki, who presided on the panel with Justices Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Zakaria Sam, set March 18 for Lailawati to reply to the submission.

On Jan 29, 2012, the Kota Baru High Court allowed Nik Sapeia’s appeal and acquitted him on a charge of voluntarily causing hurt by spraying a dangerous substance at Dr Mahathir at the Sultan Ismail Petra Airport in Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan, at about 11am on July 28, 2006.

The High Court had overturned the decision of the Magistrate’s Court of Jan 14, 2010, finding Nik Sapeia, 61, guilty of committing the offence and sentencing him to six months’ jail.

- Bernama