Magistrate Iskandar Zainol freed R Sivaraj as the complainant was not present in court today.

Deputy public prosecutor Wafi Husain applied for an adjournment to record a statement from the complainant as well as issue a subpoena for her to attend the next proceeding.

However, lawyer Ravinder Singh Dhaliwal, who appeared for Sivaraj, said the charge had been hanging over his client’s head for the past three years and he should be acquitted.

Iskandar then ordered an acquittal, meaning Sivaraj cannot be charged again for the same offence.

Lawyer Chan Yen Hui, who held a watching brief for the woman, said no subpoena had been issued to the complainant for her to be present in court.

She said it was mandatory for a subpoena to be issued to witnesses to attend court, adding that the complainant required a subpoena to get time off from her employer.

Sivaraj was charged on March 2, 2020 and was on bail of RM3,000.

He was alleged to have uttered profanities at the woman at the Armada Hotel between 11.35pm and 12.20am on June 22, 2019.

The offence under Section 509 of the Penal Code carries five years’ imprisonment or a fine or both upon conviction.