Pendakwa Raya v ARJUNAN A/L CHANDRAN

Case Significance

Illustrates the exercise of the sentencing discretion introduced by the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 (Act 846) in a cannabis-trafficking conviction under section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, the court imposing life imprisonment and 12 strokes of the cane with rehabilitation in mind.

This High Court decision concerns a contested charge of trafficking in dangerous drugs under section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, punishable under section 39B(2), following a raid on an empty house in Taman Maznah, Klang. The prosecution's account, given principally by the raiding officer, was that on entering the premises he saw the accused seated before a stack of white boards packing cannabis, with a weighing scale and cutting knives nearby, and that the accused tried to flee before being detained; the cannabis recovered weighed 866.4 grams. The accused did not plead guilty, and the prosecution called three witnesses to establish a prima facie case. The court examined whether cannabis fell within the First Schedule to the Act, whether the accused had possession of and knowledge of the drugs, and whether custody and control had been proved through the raiding officer's evidence given the accused's close proximity to the exhibits. The defence raised issues of the accused's identity and the prosecution's failure to call certain witnesses, and the accused gave evidence denying the offence. The court was satisfied that possession, knowledge and trafficking had been proved and convicted the accused. On sentence, the court referred to the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 (Act 846), which removed the mandatory death penalty for such offences and gave the court discretion, and to Parliament's rehabilitative purpose in allowing a return to society. Emphasising the accused's prospect of rehabilitation, the court imposed hukuman penjara seumur hidup dengan 12 kali sebatan rotan (life imprisonment with 12 strokes of the cane). In sentencing, the court drew on the official statement in the Dewan Rakyat that the abolition of the mandatory death penalty was an initial step in transforming the criminal-justice system, and on the principle that rehabilitation, so that a prisoner may return to serve family, community and country, underpins sentencing in Malaysia; it considered that even where much of a life sentence may be spent in prison, that is no bar to allowing an offender the chance to change. The judgment illustrates how the courts exercise the sentencing discretion introduced by Act 846 in trafficking cases.