A three-member bench chaired by Hanipah Farikullah said it is mandatory under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) for the court to read the altered charge before the proceeding continues.

Hanipah, who sat with Ahmad Nasfy Yasin and Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali, said Section 422 of the CPC could not be used to cure the material defect.

The bench made the ruling after lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik submitted that the sessions court took an erroneous step before Guy Boon Leong, 60, was asked to enter his defence.

Ruzima, who read a separate judgment, also said Guy ought not to have been called to enter his defence as the prosecution failed to prove the ingredients of the charge.

Guy and Choo Poh Lim were jointly charged with committing the offence on Teh Ming Han outside the office of RS Maniam Auctions in Desa Pandan, Kuala Lumpur, on Oct 16, 2014.

Following an altercation between Guy, Choo and Teh, the latter fell from a staircase, resulting in a finger nerve in the right hand being cut and becoming dysfunctional.

In 2018, the sessions court acquitted both men without their defence being called.

In 2019, the High Court struck out the prosecution’s appeal against Choo as he could not be located, while Guy’s acquittal was affirmed.

Following an appeal by the prosecution, Guy was ordered to return to the sessions court to enter his defence by adding particulars of the act of causing grievous hurt to Teh.

However, due to some miscommunication, Guy’s old charge was read and the oversight was realised only after the defence had already closed its case.

The trial judge, despite objection by defence counsel Salim Bashir, asked the court interpreter to then read the amended charge.

He then found Guy guilty and bound him over on a RM5,000 good behaviour bond for two years.

The High Court affirmed the ruling. Guy appealed against the conviction while the prosecution appealed against the sentence.