PUTRAJAYA, Oct 22 — The Court of Appeal today overturned a High Court decision that had released a wheelchair-bound man on bail pending the disposal of his drug trafficking trial.
A three-man bench led by Justice Datuk Choo Kah Sing, alongside K. Muniandy and Datuk Seri Latifah Mohd Tahar, allowed the prosecution’s appeal to set aside the High Court’s ruling and ordered M. Alagesan to be remanded in custody.
Justice Choo, who delivered the unanimous decision, however, granted the defence’s application for Alagesan to be placed at the Sungai Buloh Hospital until the conclusion of his trial.
He held that the High Court judge erred in applying Section 388 of the Criminal Procedure Code to allow bail when there is an express law dealing with bail for drug trafficking offences.
He said the High Court’s decision was against the provision of Section 41B (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which states that bail shall not be granted to an accused person charged under the Act with an offence punishable by death or life imprisonment with not less than 12 strokes of the cane.
Justice Choo said Section 2 of the same Act stated that this subsection shall have the effect notwithstanding any written laws or any rule of law to the contrary.
The court ordered the RM150,000 bail deposited to be returned and revoked all previously imposed bail conditions.
“This court ordered the trial court to fix an early hearing date to complete the trial by the end of this year if possible considering the health condition of the accused,” Justice Choo said.
Earlier, lawyer Datuk Naran Singh, assisted by Amrick Singh Sandu, told the court that the trial dates have been scheduled for Feb 17 to 19 and March 24 to 26, 2027, and requested the court to issue a directive for the trial to be heard earlier.
Alagesan, 44, was charged with trafficking in 6.276 kg of cannabis at a house in Kg KL Tin Kalumpang, Kuala Kubu Baru, Hulu Selangor, Selangor on Feb 7, 2024.
On Sept 23, 2024, the Shah Alam High Court allowed Alagesan’s application to be released on bail pending disposal of his trial with RM150,000 with two sureties and imposed additional conditions including reporting to the nearest police station, surrendering his passport, and remaining at home from 7 pm to 7 am.
During proceedings, deputy public prosecutor Hafizah Johor Ariff Johor argued that Section 41B(1)(a) establishes a mandatory restriction that completely denies the right to bail for offences carrying the death penalty under the Dangerous Drugs Act, thereby divesting the High Court of any discretionary power to release the accused on bail pending completion of the trial.
She said that the High Court’s decision to grant bail in this case is a departure from established legal principles and it would open the door for thousands of detainees facing charges under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drug Act to apply for bail on subjective health grounds, thereby crippling Parliament’s intention to combat serious drug crimes.
In response, Naran Singh contended that despite the statutory prohibition under Section 41B, the court retains the inherent power to grant bail under exceptional circumstances.
He said Alagesan was paralysed from the waist down and was unable to squat, noting that standard prison toilets are equipped with squatting facilities. — Bernama