Justice Aslam Zainuddin said as such it was important for magistrates and sessions court judges to be careful, cautious and circumspect before accepting such pleas.
He said they should not treat the process as something that is to be done mechanically without considering the facts of the case and the relevant statute to ensure and establish that an offence has been committed.
“Therefore, this is an apt opportunity for me to discuss cases on accepting pleas of ‘nolo contendere’ by the subordinate courts as a refresher for our judicial officers when they are faced with similar situations in the course of their work,” the judge remarked in a written judgment released yesterday.
The judge had listed eight case laws from the High Court of Malaya and Singapore between 1952 and 1988 on why they should be more alert in performing their judicial duty.
Last week, Aslam set aside former Kapar MP S Manikavasagam’s breach of the peace conviction under Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 for insulting a party colleague in January.
He granted Manikavasagam a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) instead.
“The ingredient of causing a breach of the peace was glaringly missing. The conviction recorded against the accused is set aside and he is discharged but not acquitted,” Aslam said in his oral ruling.
The judge was exercising his revisionary powers under Section 323 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which allows him to call up the records of a lower court to satisfy himself as to the correctness, legality and propriety of any sentence passed.
Aslam said he granted Manickavasagam, the current Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) vice-president, a DNAA as no trial was held, resulting in no evidence being presented in court.
Although Manikavasagam pleaded guilty to the charge, he said the facts of the case did not fit the offence.
He was said to have behaved rudely towards former PRM secretary-general Koh Swee Yong on Jan 4 at a house in Subang Jaya by sending an insulting message with intent to incite anger and breach of the peace.
He pleaded guilty to the charge in the magistrates’ court on Feb 13.
Magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu gave Manikavasagam a choice of paying a RM100 fine or spending three days in jail.
Aslam also ordered the fine to be refunded to Manikavasagam.