RAGUNATHAN A/L THANGIAH v Pendakwa Raya [Jabatan Peguam Negara]

Case Significance

Illustrates that a delay by the police in delivering drug exhibits to the chemist does not by itself break the chain of evidence under section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 where the handling and identity of the exhibits are otherwise satisfactorily accounted for.

This Court of Appeal decision is one of three linked criminal appeals by the same appellant, heard together, against trafficking convictions under seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 (section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952) recorded by the High Court at Johor Bahru. The aspect brought into focus in this appeal is the integrity of the chain of evidence in respect of the drug exhibits. The appellant contended that the chain of evidence had been broken because the police had been late in sending the seized drugs to the Chemistry Department (Jabatan Kimia) for analysis, which, he argued, opened the possibility of tampering or mistaken identity and rendered the exhibits unreliable. The panel of Azman bin Abdullah, Lim Chong Fong and Lim Hock Leng JJCA examined whether the delay in transmitting the drugs for analysis actually gave rise to a break in the chain of custody, or whether the movement and safekeeping of the exhibits had been satisfactorily accounted for by the prosecution's witnesses despite the delay. The court considered that a delay in sending exhibits for analysis is not, without more, fatal, and that the question is whether the identity and integrity of the exhibits from seizure to analysis were nonetheless established on the evidence. Having reviewed the grounds of the High Court judge, the submissions and the totality of the evidence, the court was satisfied that the chain of evidence remained intact and that the trial judge had been entitled to accept the exhibits as reliable. It dismissed the appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence, maintaining the decision of the High Court. The judgment is a useful illustration that a delay by the police in delivering drug exhibits to the chemist does not by itself break the chain of evidence where the handling of the exhibits is otherwise accounted for.