Bong & Co

On the court record

Bong & Co is a Malaysian firm whose reported matters are predominantly criminal defence before the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi), acting for accused persons in prosecutions brought by the Public Prosecutor (Pendakwa Raya), with occasional land work. The criminal practice has produced notable outcomes. In a murder trial the accused was called to enter a defence and raised the exception under section 84 of the Penal Code (unsoundness of mind); the court was satisfied that the exception had been made out and made an order under section 347 of the Criminal Procedure Code. In dangerous-drugs prosecutions under section 39B and section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, the firm secured acquittals: in one matter both accused were dibebas dan dilepaskan di akhir kes pendakwaan (acquitted and discharged at the close of the prosecution case) after the court held that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case, and in a further full trial both accused were dibebaskan daripada kesemua pertuduhan (acquitted of all charges).

Alongside the criminal defence work, the firm has appeared in a land-reference matter concerning the acquisition of underground land under sections 92A to 92I of the National Land Code and the Land Acquisition Act 1960, where the issue was whether compensation should be nominal in the absence of any endorsement of the underground land on the title, or should reflect the injurious effect of the acquisition on the landowner. Across its drug prosecutions the recurring battleground has been whether the prosecution could prove possession and knowledge, and whether the statutory presumption of trafficking could be invoked at all, questions the court resolved in the accused's favour at the close of the prosecution case in more than one matter, with both accused acquitted and discharged. The reported profile is that of a criminal-litigation practice with a record of testing the prosecution's proof of possession and knowledge in drug cases and of raising statutory defences in homicide, complemented by land-acquisition and compensation work before the same court.