A teacher from Seremban is sentenced to 25 years in jail over leaked UPSR exam papers. — AFP pic

PETALING JAYA, Feb 3 — A Seremban teacher was sentenced to a 25-year jail term under the Official Secrets Act 1972 over possession of several images of leaked Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah exam papers on his mobile phone.

The Star Online reported that teacher, L. Subbarau @Kamalanathan was found guilty on five counts under the OSA which carries a jail term of between one and seven years each.

Judge Suresh Gopalan, who presided over the case, said the prosecution had proved “beyond reasonable doubt” that, Subbarau was guilty of the offenses which were committed between September 8 and September 16, 2014 when the Primary 6 examinations were underway.

Bubbarau’s lawyer, M. Kulasegaran said an appeal would be filed in the High Court within 14 days, adding that the sentenced passed was “too harsh for a technical offence”.

The five year jail term on each charge is to run concurrently with the judge allowing Subbarau bail of RM3,000 pending his appeal in the High Court, but ordered that his passport be held.

The charges against the teacher involved images from examination papers for five subjects ― Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, Bahasa Tamil (comprehension), Bahasa Tamil (writing) and Science.

Subbarau had been acquitted in 2015 by the Sessions court and the decision was later upheld by the High Court.

But on May 25 last year, the Court of Appeal had in a 2-1 majority ruling, ordered Subbarau to enter defence on the grounds that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.