High Court dismisses ex-student’s RM400,000 suit over phone seizure during SPM trial exam

PETALING JAYA, Oct 26 — The Kuala Terengganu High Court has upheld the dismissal of a RM400,000 negligence and defamation suit filed by a former student against her teachers and the government over a body search and the seizure of her mobile phone during an SPM trial examination six years ago.

Judicial Commissioner Yusrin Faidz Yusoff dismissed Nur Nabilah Ahmad Zambala’s appeal and upheld a Sessions Court decision that threw out her suit against two teachers, a school principal and the government, Berita Harian (BH) reported.

The court ruled that while the school was entitled to confiscate Nabilah’s mobile phone, it had no authority under Education Ministry guidelines or school examination regulations to inspect its contents.

“Although the phone was indeed evidence, lawful possession of evidence does not automatically confer the authority to access its digital contents,” Yusrin was quoted as saying.

The case stemmed from an incident on October 25, 2020, when teachers conducted a spot check following complaints that Nabilah had cheated during a Sains Rumah Tangga SPM trial examination at SMK Sura in Dungun, Terengganu.

Checks on the phone uncovered notes, examination questions and answer schemes for several subjects.

However, Yusrin held that the procedural breaches did not amount to negligence, ruling that the teacher had acted reasonably in investigating allegations of cheating.

He also said identifying the source of the leaked examination questions and answer schemes was a more serious issue than the student’s possession of a mobile phone during the examination.