KUCHING: A convenience store owner was fined RM60,000 by the Magistrate’s Court for selling cigarettes near an educational institution in Oct last year.
According to a statement from the State Health Department (JKNS), the accused company pleaded guilty to two charges when they were read before Magistrate Mason Jaro Lenya Barayan.
On the first charge, the company admitted to selling cigarettes within 40 metres of an educational institution, an offence under Section 10(1) of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 read together with Regulation 4(b) of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health (Control of Sale) Regulations 2024.
The offence carries a penalty of a fine ranging from RM20,000 to RM100,000, or imprisonment for up to two years, or both.
On the second charge, the company was found to have sold cigarettes that were not packaged and labelled in accordance with legal requirements.
For this offence, the company was charged under Section 10(1) read together with Section 15(1) of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Act 2024 and Regulation 8(1)(b) of the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations 2024.
In mitigation, the company’s representative appealed for a lighter sentence, saying it was a first offence and gave an assurance that the offence would not be repeated.
However, prosecuting officer Mohd Fairos Ibrahim told the court that an educational enforcement exercise had been conducted from Oct 1, 2024, for a month to allow premises to take corrective action.
He added that both offences were non-compoundable and urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence as a lesson to the accused.
The court then imposed a fine of RM30,000 for each charge, bringing the total fine to RM60,000.
