Group: Blacklisting vehicle owners is unconstitutional

It is against the federal constitution and unlawful for the Road Transport Department (JPJ) to blacklist vehicle owners, said chairperson of Kempen Anti Saman Ekor (KASE) Mahfuz Omar today in Kuala Lumpur.

‘Saman Ekor' are police summonses (notice 170A) which are not served personally to the offenders.

They could be left under the windshields wipers of illegally-parked vehicles, or issued for traffic offences caught on camera, or for speeding.

Last month, it was reported that police had issued more than 10 million such summonses and that the offenders will be barred from renewing their road tax and driving licences.

Federal traffic police chief SAC II Abdul Aziz Yusof said that 2.5 million summons notices had been issued and 1.7 million road users are blacklisted.

In a press conference at the launch of the campaign, Mahfuz (right) explained that it is unconstitutional because a judge had decided that it contravenes Article 13 of the constitution.

Article 13 provides that no person may be deprived of property save in accordance with the law. No law may provide for the compulsory acquisition or use of property without adequate compensation.

"We found that in 2008, a vehicle owner, Leonard Lim Yaw Ching, applied for judicial review against JPJ Sarawak for blacklisting him and not allowing him to renew his road tax. The court found that JPJ's action was unlawful and unconstitutional as it deprived the owner of the right of his property," Mahfuz said.

Although JPJ has the right to refuse the renewal of road taxes and driver's licences, the Road Transport Act 1987 says that JPJ has to conduct an investigation and that there is an ‘outstanding case' under the offender's name.

Mahfuz added that since the attorney-general is the one representing JPJ Sarawak, they should be aware of the case and stop the blacklisting practice.

"This decision is binding and should be adhered to by JPJ in all cases. They (the attorney-general) seems to be deliberately not following the court's decision and this could be construed as contempt of court," he added.

Pictures not admissible in court

Mahfuz claimed that a lot of people do not receive the notice or even the summons and only found that they are blacklisted when they want to renew the road tax.

"The law requires that the notice and then summon to be sent to the offender. This is to give the offender the right to chose to defend the case in court or to pay the RM300 compound.

However, the police do not want to take the case to court because photographs taken are not admissible as evidence, so actually they cannot prove their case," he said.

He explained that the government had inserted a provision to allow for photographs to be admissible as evidence in the proposed amendment to the Road Transport Act 1987 in April.

"But the bill was withdrawn after being tabled for the first reading," he said.

The amendment was deemed not people friendly and received criticisms from both the opposition and the BN parliamentarians.

Mahfuz urged the JPJ and Transport Ministry to stop the blacklist system and allow everyone to pay their road tax.

"The government should make a good judgment so that we do not lose one of our steady sources of income. And we do not want those who cannot renew their road tax to drive illegally," he added.

He said that they will request for a meeting with the Transport Minister on Aug 5 to cancel the blacklist system.

"We are also conducting a ‘Meet the Victim day'. The public should attend this event as we will educate and give advice regarding summonses and blacklisting," he said.

It will take place on the night of Aug 9 for Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and it will be conducted in Seremban the next day.

Also present were committee members Aiman Athirah and lawyer Zulhazmi Shariff.