KUALA PILAH: A man and his son pleaded not guilty at the Sessions Court here for having in their possession 1,248 cans of illicit beer of various brands worth RM3,494.40.

       P. Aplanayara, 65 and A. Kartik claimed trial to the charge after it was read to them before judge Norma Ismail.

       The duo allegedly committed the offence at 9.30pm on Feb 20, 2020 at a house in Taman Sri Gelugor here.

       They were charged under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967, an offence punishable under Section 135(1)(v)(aa) of the same legislation.

       Offenders can be fined 10 times the value of the goods or RM100,000, whichever is higher, or jailed between six months and five years, or both upon conviction.

       For the second charge, the suspects had failed to prove that the excise duty on the cans amounting to RM13,011.60 had been paid as required under Section 74(1)(a) of the Excise Act 1976.

       The offence, punishable under Section 74(1)(iv)(A) of the same legislation carries a fine of not less than 10 times the amount of the excise duty or RM100,000, whichever is higher and not more than 20 times the amount of the excise duty or RM500,000, whichever is higher, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.

       Customs prosecuting officer Sarah Abidah Abdul Jabbar then urged the court to set bail at RM6,000 each with one surety pending the next mention.

       However, a defence team led by Haresh Mahadevan asked for a lower bail as Aplanayara was currently unemployed and suffered from diabetes and hypertension while his son was only an employee at a provision store and had to provide for his wife and seven-year-old son.

       Norma then set bail at RM5,000 each and fixed March 16 for the next mention.