TAUFIK HIDAYAH BIN ABDULLAH v Pendakwa Raya

Case Significance

Applies the principle that a bare denial cannot in law raise a reasonable doubt against a prosecution case proved beyond reasonable doubt; the Court of Appeal affirmed the murder conviction under section 302 of the Penal Code and the sentence of 30 years' imprisonment and 12 strokes.

This Court of Appeal decision concerns a criminal appeal against conviction and sentence — a “rayuan terhadap sabitan dan hukuman” — arising from the joint trial of an accused (referred to here by role) on two amended charges. The prosecuting authority is the “Pendakwa Raya” (the Public Prosecutor). The first charge was murder under section 302 of the Kanun Keseksaan (Penal Code), read with section 34 (common intention), in respect of the killing of a man on 7 August 2016 near Mambau, Seremban. The two co-accused named in the charges had both died before the appeal.

At trial the High Court, after hearing eighteen prosecution witnesses, found that a prima facie case had been established and called the accused to enter his defence. The Court of Appeal's review, delivered by Hayatul Akmal binti Abdul Aziz JCA sitting with Azmi bin Ariffin and Alwi bin Hj. Abdul Wahab JJCA, examined “sama ada keterangan saksi pendakwaan dan pembelaan telah dipertimbangkan secukupnya oleh hakim perbicaraan” (whether the evidence of the prosecution and defence witnesses had been sufficiently considered by the trial judge).

The court was unpersuaded by the defence run at trial, which amounted to a bare denial. It held that “penafian semata-mata tidak dari segi undang-undang menimbulkan keraguan munasabah” (a bare denial does not, in law, raise a reasonable doubt), and that the accused had failed to raise any doubt as against the prosecution's evidence, which had been proved “melampaui keraguan yang munasabah” (beyond reasonable doubt). Finding no merit in the appeal and no basis to interfere with the trial court's findings, the court held that “rayuan tertuduh terhadap sabitan ditolak dan sabitan adalah selamat untuk dikekalkan” (the accused's appeal against conviction is dismissed and the conviction is safe to be affirmed). On the murder charge the sentence imposed was 30 years' imprisonment from the date of arrest and 12 strokes of the cane; the appeal against sentence was also dismissed.

The judgment is a useful illustration of appellate restraint and of the principle that a bare denial, unsupported by evidence raising a reasonable doubt, cannot displace a prosecution case proved beyond reasonable doubt.