JPJ Director-General Found Liable for Copyright Violation Over ‘MADANI’ Vehicle Number Plates

On July 14, 2026, judicial commissioner Edwin Paramjothy Michael Muniandy delivered a judgment holding the Director-General of the Road Transport Department (JPJ) liable for copyright infringement concerning the use of the “MADANI” prefix on vehicle number plates.

The court awarded Hasan Azhari Hashim RM40,000 in statutory and additional damages, along with RM25,000 in legal costs. Hasan is the programme director of Ilham Madani Sdn Bhd and the registered copyright owner of a working paper related to the “MADANI” number plate series under Section 26B of the Copyright Act 1987.

Represented by lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, Hasan was given a one-month window from the judgment date to file an appeal.

The dispute originated in November 2024 when Hasan announced his intention to sue the government for RM1.3 million, alleging a violation of his intellectual property rights due to the government’s use of the “MADANI” prefix for number plates.

Hasan had previously submitted a proposal in February 2023 to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, seeking collaboration on the sale of special number plates ranging from MADANI 1 to MADANI 9999, based on his copyrighted work.

In response, the JPJ wrote to Hasan in April 2023, stating that it would not issue number plates under the “MADANI” series.

However, in October 2024, Hasan discovered that JPJ had issued a public notice announcing the availability of “MADANI” series number plates for bidding, starting at RM100 per plate.

Hasan claimed this action constituted a clear infringement of his intellectual property, as the government had unlawfully adopted his idea and copyrighted work without authorization.