A businessman who claimed to be a member of the Kelantan royal family has been charged for using a royal title without the permission of the palace at the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court today.

Tengku Iskandar Tengku Ahmad was said to have committed the offence on August 31, 2014, when he signed a document using the name "Yang Maha Mulia Tengku Iskandar Ibni Almarhum Tengku Ahmad Panglima Raja".

The 71-year-old, who claimed to be a descendant of Long Yunus, a Kelantan king who ruled the state in the 18th century, also used the letterhead of the Pertubuhan Kerabat D'Raja DYMM Long Yunus in the document to allow his driver Chai Kok Leong to handle his Mercedes Benz.

The registration of the Pertubuhan Kerabat D'Raja DYMM Long Yunus, however, was revoked by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on Feb 11, 2011.

Tengku Iskandar claimed trial for both charges under Section 3(1)(a) of the Kelantan Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Enactment 1977 and Section 48(1) of the Societies Act 1966.

If found guilty for the first charge, Tengku Iskandar can be fined not more than RM1,000 and face five years' imprisonment, or a fine not exceeding RM15,000, or both if found guilty for the second charge.

Judge Mohamad Kamil Nizam granted bail of RM4,000 with one surety and fixed July 24 for the next mention.

Earlier, Tengku Iskandar's lawyer Joshua Sambanthan requested a gag order against the media from reporting the case.

"In light of the sultan of Kelantan's coronation (as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong) on April 24 and the relation between the King and the accused, we don't want the people to speculate about the case which would be prejudicial to the accused."

Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud however argued that the case does not involve children, nor does it involve the Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972 or the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012.

"This is an open court and freedom to report is enshrined under the Federal Constitution.

"With regard to the family ties, I don't think it is relevant to the case. This is something that has not been proven in court," said Awang, disagreeing with Joshua's proposal.

Acknowledging the media's freedom to report, Joshua however stressed the importance of maintaining the dignity of both the Long Yunus and Kelantan royalty.

"We don't want the case to be reported in the media for the public, such as bloggers, to provide different views.

"The opposite may be published in Malaysiakini and other blogs. Also, the case is not so serious, other murder trials have been given gag orders before," he added.

The judge however rejected the media gag order, citing the nature of the case which he said was "not serious".

"I am of the opinion that there is nothing substantive in relation to the case. So the application cannot be considered," he said.

Meanwhile, Tengku Iskandar's son-in-law Zakaria Ibrahim later showed reporters his father-in-law's family tree as a purported descendent of Long Yunus, stressing that he has the right to use the royal title.

"The Kelantan Constitution states that 'Kerabat D'Raja' is for anyone who is a Malay of royal blood, professes Islam as his or her religion and a descendant of Long Yunus.

"And the title and emblem used in the documents (signed by Tengku Iskandar) is 'Kerabat D'Raja' and not 'Pertubuhan Kerabat D'Raja."

Asked to explain the gag order, Zakaria gave his assurance that his family would not apply for more gag orders in the future.

"We won't block (the media). We actually prefer that the rakyat know the true story," he said.