KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 — The High Court today ordered the Home Ministry to return all 172 seized Swatch-branded watches worth over RM64,000 — which were linked to Pride, otherwise known as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement — to Swiss watchmaker’s local company Swatch Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.
High Court judge Datuk Amarjeet Singh Serjit Singh said the Home Ministry’s search of Swatch stores in May 2023 and seizure of the Pride watches were illegal.
“So in the instant case, the search was made without warrant and the search is illegal, and therefore any seizures made as stated in notices of seizure is illegal,” the judge said before granting the court order to quash the Home Ministry’s May 2023 notices of seizure of the watches.
The judge also noted that the Home Ministry had banned the Pride watches only after the seizure, which meant that Swatch Group was not breaking any law when the ministry seized the watches.
“The prohibition in this case was issued after the seizure, therefore at the time of the seizure, the applicant did not contravene any law, any order. As a consequence, an order is made that all the watches seized are to be returned within 14 days of the date of this order,” the judge added.
While the judge did not make any court order for the government to pay compensation to Swatch Group, he said that the company is free to apply for compensation if the watches that are returned are damaged in any way.
The judge did not make any order for legal costs to be awarded to Swatch Group.
On June 24, 2023, the Swatch Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd filed the lawsuit via a judicial review application at the High Court here.
It named the four respondents as the Home Ministry chief secretary, the Home Ministry’s enforcement division’s secretary, the home minister and the Malaysian government.
In the lawsuit, Swatch Group sought several court orders, including an order to quash the Home Ministry’s seizure notices in May 2023 for the 172 watches worth RM64,795, a court order for all the seized watches to be returned within five days of the order, and court order for compensation.
Swatch Group also sought these court orders: a declaration that Section 16(2) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984 only authorises the Home Ministry’s officers to search Swatch’s stores in “exigent circumstances” or urgent circumstances, and an order to quash the Home Ministry officers’ decisions and actions on the searches of Swatch stores and seizures of the watches.
On August 10, 2023, the Home Ministry gazetted its August 9, 2023 ban or prohibition order against the import, production, sale, circulation, distribution or possession for such purposes of Swatch watches with “LGBTQ+” “which is likely to be prejudicial to morality is prohibited throughout Malaysia”.
LGBTQ+ refers to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and + Plus (LGBTQ+).
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