Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim today rebutted the claim that the government had used the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) to cover up corruption as claimed by Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Hamzah.

"I need to deny the claim that OSA was used to conceal corruption. There was zero prosecution under the OSA since 2000 apart from the leak of Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examination papers," he told the Dewan Rakyat during the question-and-answer session.

"If one were to say that the OSA is used to shut up (critics), (I will say that) we have the Whistleblowers Protection Act 2012," he said.

"I want to stress here: OSA is used to uphold integrity. Without the OSA, the administrative structures will be impacted," he said, adding that the contents of the government's planning and discussion were also leaked besides the classified documents.

The BN Muar MP was responding to Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) who asked if the OSA was seen to be used to conceal corruption.

"Even Gua Musang (lawmaker Tengku Razaleigh) said the law needs to be amended as it conceals sin and corruption," said Mahfuz ( photo ).

According to Razali, the government had identified 22 cases under the OSA with eight officers and members of public being charged and convicted in court before 2000.

"While the government is satisfied with the effectiveness of the Act, it will consider any proposal to strengthen the Act in relation to controlling classified documents (from leaking)," he said.

Not everything must be a secret

Tengku Razaleigh, who is fondly known as Ku Li, also wanted the Financial Procedure Act 1957 (FPA) to be re-looked in order to limit the powers bestowed on the finance minister.

"Not everything must be a secret. I am not angry with the government, but these are the weaknesses in our system because we abuse the existing powers," he had said.

In July, then attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail had called for a thorough probe to determine who leaked documents relating to an ongoing investigation to the Wall Street Journal .

Meanwhile, eight people were nabbed for alleged involvement in the leaked 2014 UPSR papers, which caused the pupils to resit the Science, English, Mathematics and Tamil language exams.

Two teachers were charged under OSA but later acquitted in April.