Ex-student loses appeal over iPhone hidden in underwear during SPM trial

KUALA LUMPUR: Schools cannot examine the contents of students' mobile phones without legal authority, the High Court has ruled.

Judge Yusrin Faidz Yusoff said although schools were empowered to confiscate and retain mobile phones, such powers did not automatically extend to inspecting their digital contents.

He made the ruling when dismissing an appeal by former student Nur Nabilah Ahmad Zambala, who sued her teachers and the government for negligence and defamation after she was caught hiding an iPhone in her underwear during an SPM trial examination at SMK Sura in Dungun, Terengganu, six years ago.

In his grounds of judgment dated Oct 22, Yusrin said neither the Education Ministry's circular nor the school's examination rules expressly authorised teachers to examine the contents of confiscated phones.

"While the phone was indeed material evidence, the lawful possession of evidence does not, without more, confer the authority to break into its digital contents.

"As neither the circular nor the school's examination rules conferred such a power, the inspection was an exercise of authority outside the regulatory framework," he said.

The judge also found that the school had failed to follow procedures for confiscating mobile phones, including recording Nabilah's identity card number and signature and informing her parents.

However, he ruled that these procedural lapses did not automatically amount to negligence, as the teachers had acted reasonably in investigating suspected cheating.

Yusrin also questioned the school's failure to investigate how Nabilah had obtained confidential SPM trial examination papers and answer schemes for several subjects.

He said identifying the source of the leak was far more serious than investigating the student's possession of a mobile phone during the examination.

"This question (the source of the leak) is of far greater gravity than the immediate mobile phone and cheating offence."

The judge said the school could have referred the matter to the district or state education authorities or the Education Ministry's disciplinary board to investigate teachers who had access to the examination materials.

Instead, he said, the school conducted its own forensic examination of Nabilah's phone, leaving the source of the leak unresolved.

"In doing so, it assumed an investigative function for which it was neither equipped nor statutorily empowered," he said.

The case stemmed from an incident on Oct 25, 2020, when teachers conducted a spot check following complaints from two students who suspected Nabilah of cheating during the Home Science SPM trial examination.

An examination of the device revealed notes, examination questions and answer schemes for several subjects.

Following the discovery, the school gave Nabilah one per cent marks for several subjects after teachers concluded that she had cheated.

She later sued two teachers, the school principal, the education director-general and the government, alleging negligence, improper search and defamation.

On Dec 16 last year, Sessions Court judge Wan Nor Aklima Wan Salleh dismissed the suit after finding that the teachers had acted reasonably during the spot check and that the cheating allegation was substantially true.

In upholding the decision, Yusrin said the spot check was justified as it followed complaints from students and was conducted in a closed hall with only female teachers and students present.

He also ruled that evidence obtained from the phone remained admissible despite the unauthorised inspection.

Nabilah was represented by Hisyam Yusof while federal counsel Nik Rabi'atul Adawiah Soupy and Muhammad Faizuan Khalid appeared for the respondents.