Revin Kumar & Bolkin

On the court record

Revin Kumar & Bolkin is a Malaysian criminal-litigation practice whose reported matters are argued before the Court of Appeal (Mahkamah Rayuan) and the High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi), acting for accused persons and appellants in prosecutions brought by the Public Prosecutor (Pendakwa Raya). The caseload centres on homicide and drug offences. The firm has defended a dangerous-drugs trafficking prosecution in which three persons were arrested in a house said to be used to process drugs, where the first accused died in prison before trial and the charges against him were withdrawn, and the question was whether the second and third accused could be connected to the drugs in the absence of evidence that processing was taking place at the time of arrest.

A significant group of appeals concerns culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304(a) of the Penal Code read with section 34, brought by several co-accused, where the court considered the discovery and identification of the deceased, the arrival of the investigating officer and forensics, the post-mortem, the arrests, the public interest and whether the sentence imposed was in line with current sentencing practice. The firm has also appeared in an appeal from the Sessions Court concerning offences under sections 377 and 377CA of the Penal Code, where the appeal was struck out because the accused's counsel had failed to comply with the mandatory provisions on filing a petition of appeal under section 307 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

In the culpable-homicide appeals the firm pressed the identification and forensic evidence and the public-interest considerations bearing on sentence, arguing that the term imposed should reflect current sentencing practice for the offence. The reported profile is that of a criminal-appeal practice engaged with homicide and drug prosecutions, and with the recurring questions of connecting an accused to jointly charged conduct, the sentencing of culpable homicide, and the procedural requirements that govern the conduct of a criminal appeal.