Asset Declaration Notice Issued to Child by MACC Raises Ethical Concerns

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) move to serve an Asset Declaration Notice on minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan’s 12-year-old son and instruct him to appear at the agency’s headquarters has raised procedural and ethical questions.

However, the issuance of the notice under Section 36 of the MACC Act 2009 is legally valid.

Lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent explained that Section 3 of the MACC Act defines a child or offspring as a relative without specifying any minimum age.

The provision gives investigating officers a legal basis to issue an asset declaration notice to the child of a person under investigation, regardless of age.

“However, from a practical and legal perspective, a 12-year-old child lacks full legal capacity.

“Therefore, logically, the notice should be served on the child’s parents or legal guardian on the child’s behalf. The completion of forms, preparation of financial documents and all legal matters would still be handled and submitted by the parents,” he told BH.

MACC Serves Notices on Saravanan’s Family

He was commenting on the MACC’s action on Sept 25 in issuing notices under Section 36 of the MACC Act 2009 to Saravanan, his wife and their three children, requiring them to declare all their assets within 30 days.

The issue drew attention after Saravanan questioned the need for his youngest child, who is only 12, to physically attend the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya to receive the notice, which he claimed had caused the child emotional distress and trauma.

Geethan said that although the MACC has broad statutory powers under Section 36, directly serving the notice on a child and requiring the child’s physical presence at an enforcement agency’s headquarters raised ethical and procedural concerns.

“Enforcement authorities may argue that a 12-year-old child could have a bank account or property held in trust for them.

“However, the reality is that such accounts and assets are entirely controlled by adults, not the child. Therefore, there is no compelling justification or reasonable necessity to require the child to appear in person when all matters can be handled through the parents or legal guardian,” he said.

On Monday, Saravanan and his family members went to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya to collect the asset declaration notices.

The MACC’s issuance of the notices followed an ongoing investigation into Saravanan over allegations of corruption related to the approval of foreign worker quotas.

Berita Harian