Judge Azmi Abdullah said the events leading to the detention order against K Kirenveerapan and later having him confined to Setiu in Terengganu must be seen as a single transaction under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca).

Azmi said he took into consideration several Federal Court rulings made early this year, which were binding on him.

On April 25, Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who led a five-member bench, said Sections 4 and 15B of Poca intruded into the judicial domain and violated the doctrine of separation of powers.

The bench went on to strike down Sections 4 and 15B as unconstitutional.

Section 4 lays down the procedures for magistrates in granting remand orders to the police.

Meanwhile, Section 15B, which is an ouster clause, restricts judges from inquiring into the grounds for detention.

In Kirenveerapan’s case, senior federal counsel Nur Syafiqah Mohd Yusoff had raised a preliminary objection, saying the habeas corpus application was not applicable as Kirenveerapan was no longer under detention.

The judge, however, said the various stages of detention under Poca or any other law would be treated as one over-arching transaction.

On June 23 last year, the Poca board issued a two-year detention order against Kirenveerapan, after which he was sent to the Simpang Renggam detention centre.

The board later substituted the detention and made him a restricted resident effective April 19 this year.

His lawyer, Harpal Singh, had filed a habeas corpus application last December but the matter was only heard this year.

Police arrested Kirenveerapan for alleged involvement in criminal activities in Klang. He was detained for 59 days from April 27 last year.

He named the board, the superintendent of the Simpang Renggam detention centre, a Shah Alam magistrate and the government as respondents.

Kirenveerapan filed the application stating that the magistrate’s 59-day remand order for police to conduct investigations was illegal as procedures were not followed.