The High Court had allowed the SC’s appeal and increased Gan’s jail sentence from one day to 24 months.

A three-member Court of Appeal bench chaired by Justice Hadhariah Syed Ismail noted that both the notice of appeal and notice of hearing had not been served by prosecutors on Gan as required under Section 314 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

“Unfortunately, the High Court proceeded to hear the appeal (by the SC) and wrongly enhanced the sentence imposed by the sessions court,”  Hadhariah said.

As a result, she said, the High Court had committed an error of law which required appellate intervention.

“The order of the High Court is therefore null and void and unenforceable,” she said, allowing Gan’s appeal to reinstate the sentence imposed by the sessions court.

Also on the panel were Justices M Gunalan and Azman Abdullah.

The one-day jail term and fine had been imposed by the sessions court on Aug 27, 2020 after Gan was convicted under Section 122B read together with Section 122(1) of the Securities Industry Act 1983. He paid the fine and served the prison sentence.

However, on Jan 25 last year, the High Court allowed the SC’s appeal and enhanced Gan’s jail sentence from one day to 24 months.

Gan was represented by V Sithambaram, Guok Ngek Seong and Lee Wen Rui.

Deputy public prosecutor Hafiz Yusoff represented the prosecution.