Apex court reserves judgement in Morais murder case

The Star

15-05-2025

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has reserved its judgment in the appeals brought by six men convicted of the murder of deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais a decade ago.
Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, who chaired a three-judge panel, said the court needed more time to reach a decision.
'We will fix a date later to deliver the decision,' she said here yesterday.
Other judges on the panel were Court of Appeal president Justice Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Justice Rhodzariah Bujang.
The six convicted individuals in the murder case are former pathologist Col R. Kunaseegaran, 62; moneylender S. Ravi Chandaran, 54; and four unemployed men, R. Dinishwaran, 33; A. K. Thinesh Kumar, 32; M. Vishwanath, 35; and S. Nimalan, 32.
The High Court sentenced them to death in 2020 and the Court of Appeal upheld the decision in March last year.
Earlier, the court heard lengthy submissions from both parties in the case.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Yusaini Amer Abdul Karim submitted that Morais' murder should not be viewed as a 'single transaction' but rather as the culmination of a series of coordinated actions undertaken with the shared intent to cause the victim's death.
'Although the accused may have played a minor role in the overall incident, he can still be held criminally liable for murder as the circumstances fulfil the elements of 'common intention' as outlined under Section 34 of the Penal Code,' he said.
The prosecution submitted that the convictions of all six men were in order and urged the court to dismiss the appeal.
DPP Yusaini was replying to submissions by defence lawyer Amer Hamzah Arshad, who previously submitted that his client, Nimalan, should not be held liable for the murder of Morais.
In his reply, Amer Hamzah said that Nimalan should be acquitted of the murder charge as it was not proper to convict him solely for being present at the scene.
'I'm not saying that my client should be let off scot-free. He may be involved in the abduction but not the murder,' the lawyer said.
Morais was murdered between 7am and 8pm on Sept 4, 2015 at locations along Jalan Dutamas Raya, Sentul, and No. 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya. He was reported missing on the same day he was last seen leaving his apartment at Menara Duta, Kuala Lumpur, in a car.
His body was discovered on Sept 16, 2015 encased in cement inside an oil drum at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya.