This is what the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is banking on as one of its grounds in its appeal against the ruling of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur that it is illegal for the commission to question witnesses after normal office hours.

Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof ruled that the term "day-to-day", as stated in Section 30 (3)(a) of the MACC Act 2009, could not mean "round-the-clock" interrogation as it would "offend the legislative purpose" of the law, and violate the fundamental liberties of the person as guaranteed by Article 5 of the Constitution.

Mohamad Ariff also relied on the Oxford Dictionary to define the term.

In its defence, the commission is reverting to the origin of the MACC Act, which is derived from the Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (Bafia), on which the Anti-Corruption Act 1997 was modelled, particularly in its investigation procedures.

It is learnt that both the MACC Act and the Anti-Corruption Act state "day-to-day" in its English version, and "hari ke hari" in its Bahasa Malaysia version.

In the English version of Section 87 (2)(a) of Bafia, the term "day-to-day" is used to explain the order imposed on a witness to be present to assist in investigations.

The paragraph reads: "A person to whom an order under paragraph (1)(a) has been given shall attend in accordance with the terms of the order to be examined, and shall continue to so attend from day to day as directed by the investigating officer until the examination is completed…"

In the Malay version of Bafia, the same paragraph reads: "Seseorang yang kepadanya suatu perintah di bawah subseksyen (1)(a) telah diberikan hendaklah hadir mengikut terma-terma perintah itu untuk diperiksa, dah hendaklah  terus hadir sedemikian dari sehari ke sehari sebagaimana yang diarahkan oleh pegawai penyiasat sehinggalah pemeriksaan itu selesai..."

An MACC source told The Malay Mail: "When there are two versions to explain one particular term, the Malay version always takes precedence over the English."

As Bafia used the term "sehari ke sehari", the source said the term could be interpreted as "round-the-clock" or a 24-hour time-frame.

"The time of the questioning itself can be at any time of the day as long as it is agreeable to both investigating officer and the witness," the source added.

As for the different wordings used in the Malay version of Bafia in comparison with the use of "hari ke hari" in the Act, the source said the change could be due to language evolvement.

On Nov 19, the High Court ruled that it was illegal for the commission to question witnesses after 5.30pm.
The ruling was made following the death of Teoh Beng Hock, 30, the political aide to Selangor Exco member Ean Yong Hian Wah. Teoh was found dead outside Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, where the Selangor MACC office is located, on July 16.

Last Friday, The Malay Mail reported that MACC was looking at bank practices and the operations of three foreign anti-corruption agencies to assist the Attorney-General's Chambers in appealing its case.

The three agencies are Metropolitan Police Service of New Scotland Yard, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and Interpol Group of Experts on Corruption, all of which are said to be not hindered by office hours regulations when it comes to questioning of witnesses or suspects.

The countries the three agencies are located in scored higher than Malaysia on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2009.

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