After only two days of trials, the High Court here today acquitted 40-year-old Balamurugan A/L Ramasam of all charges.
The Accused faced two charges under section 38B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. The first charge was for 128.8g of Heroin and 6.5g of Monoacetylmorphines, totalling 135.5g. The second charge was for 69.23g of Methamphetamine.
If convicted the Accused faced the death penalty or life imprisonment with no less than fifteen strokes of whipping.
The Deputy Public Prosecutor called 12 witnesses and notably, presented CCTV footage to the court.
According to the Prosecution, the alleged incident happened on 17 March 2015 at around 7:45pm around Petaling Utama Avenue. A police team, led by ASP Mohd Husni bin Manaf, approached the Accused, introduced themselves as police and proceeded to confiscate the paper bag he was allegedly holding. Inside the paper bag were 5 brown envelopes, each containing a transparent plastic bag with white crystals or powder. A body search of the Accused came up empty, however the police did allegedly also find a purple plastic bag containing two clear plastics of white powder and crystals.
The Accused was represented by Dato’ Geethan Ram Vincent.
Defence counsel emphasised that the paper bag did not belong to the Accused and that he was unaware of the contents of the paper bag. The lawyer also reiterated that there were no contrabands or illegal substances found on the Accused’s person.
The judge presiding over the case, YA Puan S.M Komathy A/P Suppiah, was convinced by the Defence’s version of events and found that there was reasonable doubt in the Prosecution’s case. She held that she could not safely charge the Accused and so acquitted him with immediate effect. The Accused walked out of Courtroom 7 with relief on his face.