Pendakwa Raya v KHAIRIL SYAMSUL BIN CHE LAH

Case Significance

Illustrates the two-stage burden in a section 39B(1)(a) trafficking trial — a prima facie case at the close of the prosecution case and proof beyond reasonable doubt after the defence — and the availability of life imprisonment with whipping following abolition of the mandatory death penalty.

This High Court decision at Alor Setar concerns a charge of drug trafficking under seksyen 39B(1)(a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 (section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952). The accused was charged with trafficking in methamphetamine weighing 180.6 grams at a house in Jitra, Kubang Pasu, Kedah, on 11 May 2023. The prosecution called three witnesses, its case turning on the evidence of the raiding officer. According to that officer, acting on information about drug distribution at the house, the raiding team entered through an unlocked rear door and found the accused standing in front of a room holding a blue floral bag in his right hand; on inspection the bag was found to contain three transparent plastic packets of a substance later confirmed by the chemist as methamphetamine weighing 180.6 grams. The accused appeared fearful and agitated when the officer identified himself as police, and the seized packets were passed from the raiding officer to the investigating officer and then to the chemist for analysis, so establishing the chain of custody of the exhibits.

At the close of the prosecution case the court applied section 180 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the guidance in Balachandran v PP and PP v Mohd Radzi Abu Bakar to determine whether a prima facie case had been established on credible evidence. Being satisfied that it had, and that the statutory presumptions and the element of possession were sufficiently made out, the court called on the accused to enter his defence. Having weighed the whole of the evidence, including the defence advanced, the court held that the defence had not raised a reasonable doubt and that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, and it convicted the accused.

On sentence, and following the abolition of the mandatory death penalty, the court imposed life imprisonment from the date of arrest together with 12 strokes of the cane. The judgment illustrates the two-stage assessment in a trafficking trial — a prima facie case at the close of the prosecution case, then proof beyond reasonable doubt after the defence — and the sentencing options now available under the reformed regime.