Lawyer Bob Arumugam, who appeared for the suspect, said magistrate Tengku Eliana Tuan Kamaruzaman refused the remand application as she was bound by a recent ruling by the High Court in Temerloh.

Arumugam said MACC had relied on Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) to further remand the suspect.

“I submitted that the anti-graft agency must rely on the MACC Act which gives the commission specific powers which it must use when carrying out an investigation,” he told FMT.

Deputy public prosecutor Rifah Abdul Mutalif appeared for MACC.

Arumugam said his client has been taken back to the MACC office in Kuantan.

“I believe they will have to release him based on provisions in Section 49 of the MACC Act,” he said.

In a judgment dated May 11, judicial commissioner Roslan Mat Nor, who sits in the Temerloh High Court, said Section 49 of the MACC Act, read in its entirety, only permits an arrest to be made at the tail-end of an investigation.

He said while the MACC Act allows a person to be arrested, the suspect must be freed on bail or bond if an investigation was incomplete.

However, the suspect can be rearrested without a warrant if bail conditions are breached, Roslan said.

He said MACC may detain the person for up to 24 hours and must seek a remand order under Section 49(4) of the MACC Act for a longer detention period.

He said MACC cannot rely on the CPC to remand suspects for investigation purposes.

The 53-year-old suspect was arrested last evening on suspicion of receiving more than RM1 million in bribes from 2017 to 2022.

The investigation is being conducted under Section 16(a) of the MACC Act for soliciting or receiving bribes.