(Oct 28): Former opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim no longer faces a charge for participating in the Bersih 3.0 rally in 2012, after the Court of Appeal decided that his appeal challenging the constitutionality of the charge was a non-issue since an order prohibiting the demonstration at Dataran Merdeka was defective.

The appellate court's three man bench chaired by judge Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim said Anwar's bid to challenge the constitutionality of the charge brought against him was not sustainable because a magistrate court order that prohibited the Bersih 3.0 rally at Dataran Merdeka was defective.

Anwar had previously challenged the constitutionality of the charge under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012 before the High Court but it was refused, and he then filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Ramkarpal Singh, who appeared for Anwar, told reporters it was impossible to charge the former opposition leader for the same offence.

The magistrate's order, dated April 26, 2012, had prohibited any assembly at Dataran Merdeka from April 28 to May 1, 2012.

Another Court of Appeal bench led by Datuk Linton Albert then set aside the magistrate's order on grounds it was ill-conceived in January 2014.

Subsequently, the Sessions court last year gave Anwar and five others a discharge not amounting to acquittal on the charges under the PAA in relation to the rally.

The then Sessions court judge Ahmad Bache said he found the charges defective following Linton's decision which declared that the magistrate's order invalid.

Anwar had claimed trial to two summons charges.

In the first charge, Anwar was charged with breaching an order by Magistrate Zaki Asyraf Zubir, which barred the public from entering Dataran Merdeka during Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28, 2012.

In the second charge, Anwar together with PKR's deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali and Badrul Hisham Shaharin @ Chegubard were jointly charged for allegedly inciting and abetting R.Tangam, G.Rajesh Kumar and Farhan Ibrahim, in breaching a court order issued by the magistrate.

While Anwar had chosen to challenge the constitutionality of the charge, Azmin, Badrul Hisham and the thee others had taken a different route by appealing the magistrate's order that was issued under Section 98 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

They appealed at the Court of Appeal, which set aside the magistrate's order. – The Malaysian Insider