Section 157
Admissibility of statements in evidence
of Water Services Industry Act 2006
(1)
If any person is charged with an offence under this Act or its subsidiary legislation, any statement, whether the statement amounts to a confession or not or whether it is oral or in writing, made at any time, whether before or after the person is arrested and whether in the course of an investigation under this Act or not and whether or not wholly or partly in answer to questions, by that person to or in the hearing of an authorized officer or other person, shall be admissible in evidence at his trial and, if the person charged tenders himself as witness, any such statement may be used in cross-examination and for the purpose of impeaching his credit.
(2)
No statement under subsection (1) shall be admissible or used—
(a)
if the making of the statement appears to the court to have been caused by an inducement, threat or promise having reference to the charge against such person proceeding from a person in authority and sufficient in the opinion of the court to give the person charged grounds which would appear to him reasonable for supposing that by making it he would gain any advantage or avoid any evil of a temporal nature in reference to the proceedings against him; or
(b)
in the case of a statement made by the person after his arrest, unless the court is satisfied that he was cautioned in the following words or words to the like effect:
“It is my duty to warn you that you are not obliged to say anything or to answer any question, but anything you say, whether in answer to a question or not, may be given in evidence.”.
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(3)
A statement made by a person before there is time to caution him shall not be rendered inadmissible in evidence merely by reason of his not having been cautioned if he is cautioned as soon as possible after that.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any written law, a person accused of an offence to which subsection (1) applies shall not be bound to answer any questions relating to the case after any caution as referred to in paragraph
(2)
has been administered to him.
Authorized officer to complete investigation and hand over to police 158.
Upon the completion of his investigation into an offence under this Act or its subsidiary legislation, an authorized officer shall immediately give all information relating to the commission of the offence to an officer in charge of a police station and a police officer may arrest a person who may have committed an offence under this Act or its subsidiary legislation.
Cost of holding equipment, etc., seized 159.
Where any equipment, instrument, material, book, record, account, document, thing or matter seized under this Act or its subsidiary legislation is held in the custody of the Government or the Commission pending completion of any proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act or its subsidiary legislation, the cost of holding such thing in custody shall, in the event of any person being found to have committed an offence, be a debt due to the
Government by such person and shall be recoverable accordingly.
No cost or damages arising from seizure to be recoverable 160.
No person shall, in any proceedings before any court in respect of any equipment, instrument, material, book, record, account, document, thing or matter seized in the exercise or the purported exercise of any power conferred under this Act, be entitled to the costs of such proceedings or to any damages or other relief unless such seizure was made without reasonable cause.
Obstruction 161.
A person who—
(a)
refuses any authorized officer access to any premises which the authorized officer is entitled to have under this
Act or in the execution of any duty imposed or power conferred by this Act;
(b)
assaults, obstructs, hinders or delays any authorized officer in effecting any entry which the authorized office is entitled to effect under this Act or in the execution of any duty imposed or power conferred by this Act; or
(c)
refuses to give any authorized officer any information relating to an offence or suspected offence under this Act or its subsidiary legislation or any other information which may reasonably be required of him and which he has in his knowledge or power to give, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.
Additional powers 162.
An authorized officer shall, for the purposes of the execution of this Act or its subsidiary legislation, have power to do all or any of the following:
(a)
to require the production of records, accounts, computerized data and documents kept by a licensee or other person and to inspect, examine and to download from them, make copies of them or take extracts from them;
(b)
to require the production of any identification document from any person in relation to any case or offence under this Act or its subsidiary legislation; and
(c)
to make such inquiry as may be necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of this Act or its subsidiary legislation have been complied with.
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