Chandroo Subramaniam v Public Prosecutor and other appeals

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Andrew Phang Boon Leong JCA
• Judgment Date: 26 November 2021
• Neutral Citation: [2021] SGCA 110
• Court: Court of Appeal (Singapore)
• Docket Number: Criminal Appeals Nos 38, 39 and 40 of 2020
• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Year: 2021
• Hearing Date: 18 October 2021
• Plaintiff Counsel: Kalidass s/o Murugaiyan and Ashvin Hariharan (Kalidass Law Corporation) and Ashwin Ganapathy (I.R.B Law LLP),Rajan Sanjiv Kumar (Allen & Gledhill LLP), Suang Wijaya (Eugene Thuraisingam LLP) and Shabira Banu d/o Abdul Kalam Azad (K Ravi Law Corporation)
• Defendant Counsel: The appellant in CA/CCA 40/2020 in person,John Lu, Chin Jincheng and Jotham Tay (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Subject Matter: Criminal law,Statutory offences,Misuse of Drugs Act
• Citation: [2021] SGCA 110

Andrew Phang Boon Leong JCA (delivering the judgment of the court): Introduction

The appellant in CA/CCA 38/2020, Chandroo Subramaniam (“Chandroo”), the appellant in CA/CCA 39/2020, Kamalnathan a/l Muniandy (“Kamalnathan”) and the appellant in CA/CCA 40/2020, Pravinash a/l Chandran (“Pravinash”) were charged, tried and convicted in the High Court for drug trafficking offences under the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 2008 Rev Ed) (“MDA”) in respect of three blocks of vegetable matter containing not less than 1,344.5g of cannabis (“the Drugs”).

The charges for which the appellants were tried and convicted are as follows. Pravinash was charged under s 5(1)(a) read with s 5(2) of the MDA for having the Drugs in his possession for the purpose of trafficking. Chandroo and Kamalnathan were each charged under s 5(1)(a) read with ss 5(2) and 12 of the MDA for abetment by conspiracy with Pravinash to engage in the trafficking of the Drugs.

The High Court judge (“the Judge”), having convicted the appellants on the charges they faced, sentenced Chandroo and Kamalnathan to the mandatory death penalty. For Pravinash, the Judge accepted the Prosecution’s submission that he was a mere courier of the Drugs within the meaning of s 33B(2)(a) of the MDA. As the Prosecution had also tendered a certificate of substantive assistance under s 33B(2)(b) of the MDA in respect of Pravinash, the Judge sentenced him to life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane, with the sentence backdated to the date of his arrest (5 March 2016).

Chandroo, Kamalnathan and Pravinash appealed against their convictions and sentences.

The background facts

On 5 March 2016, at around 5.27pm, Kamalnathan and Pravinash, who are Malaysians, entered Singapore through Woodlands Checkpoint on Kamalnathan’s motorcycle, bearing the registration number KCP8801. Pravinash rode pillion, and was carrying a black Adidas haversack (“the Haversack”). After crossing Woodlands Checkpoint into Singapore, they proceeded to Kranji MRT station, and Pravinash, either alone or (according to him) accompanied by Kamalnathan, entered the public toilet there. According to Pravinash, in the public toilet, he and Kamalnathan removed the three blocks of Drugs which they were carrying on their bodies, and put them into the Haversack.

Both Pravinash and Kamalnathan then went to a nearby coffee shop (“the Kranji MRT station coffee shop”). Kamalnathan contacted one “Suren” using his handphone, and continued to do so at various points throughout their visit to Singapore. They waited at the Kranji MRT station coffee shop for one to two hours, then went to a different coffee shop (“the second coffee shop”), where they again waited. At around 9.17pm, they proceeded to Kranji Road on Kamalnathan’s motorcycle.

At Kranji Road, they established contact with Chandroo, who was riding his motorcycle bearing the registration number FBG1274J. What transpired at this meeting is disputed. However, what is undisputed is that in the course of the meeting, Chandroo handed S$20 and one or two empty white plastic bags to Kamalnathan and Pravinash. Thereafter, Chandroo, on the one hand, and Kamalnathan and Pravinash on the other, split up from Kranji Road. According to Pravinash, they did so because Kamalnathan had noticed the presence of police in the vicinity. Chandroo proceeded to the Kranji MRT station coffee shop and waited. Pravinash and Kamalnathan went to the vicinity of the Kranji MRT station coffee shop but did not regroup with Chandroo. Chandroo then rode off on his motorcycle.

At this point, officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (“CNB”) moved in to arrest the three of them. Pravinash was arrested at the overhead bridge outside Kranji MRT station, still carrying the Haversack. The Drugs were found inside. Kamalnathan was arrested near the bus stop in front of Kranji MRT station. Chandroo was arrested in the vicinity of Lian Hup Building.

The following items were seized from the appellants at the time of their arrest. From Pravinash: the Haversack, which contained, among other things, a white plastic bag containing the three blocks of Drugs, his mobile phone, a red plastic bag containing T-shirts, and an envelope containing certificates; From Kamalnathan: one Lenovo tablet, one Nokia mobile phone and S$20.55 in cash. From Chandroo: two mobile phones, one brown envelope containing S$4,000 in cash, all in S$50 notes secured together with a single rubber band.

After the arrest of the appellants, the following statements (“police statements”) were taken from them: From Pravinash: A contemporaneous statement recorded by Senior Station Inspector (“SSI”) Tony Ng Tze Chiang on the day of Pravinash’s arrest on 5 March 2016; A cautioned statement pursuant to s 23 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68, 2012 Rev Ed) (“CPC”) on 6 March 2016; Long statements pursuant to s 22 of the CPC: On 9 March 2016; and On 10 March 2016. From Kamalnathan: A contemporaneous statement recorded by Staff Sergeant Muhammad Fardlie bin Ramlie (“SSgt Fardlie”) on the day of Kamalnathan’s arrest on 5 March 2016; A s 23 CPC cautioned statement on 6 March 2016; Long statements pursuant to s 22 of the CPC: On 8 March 2016; On 10 March 2016; On 12 March 2016; On 25 August 2016; and On 7 October 2016. From Chandroo: A contemporaneous statement recorded by Sergeant Yogaraj s/o Ragunathan Pillay (“Sgt Yogaraj”) on the day of Chandroo’s arrest on 5 March 2016; A s 23 CPC cautioned statement on 6 March 2016; Long statements pursuant to s 22 of the CPC: On 9 March 2016; On 11 March 2016 at 11.10am; On 11 March 2016 at 4.24pm; and On 18 July 2016.

The appellants’ accounts of events

Pravinash, Kamalnathan and Chandroo each gave very different accounts of the events at trial. We briefly summarise their accounts as follows. In his police statements and at trial, Pravinash admitted that he had entered Singapore on 5 March 2016 for the purpose of delivering the Drugs to a customer in Singapore. When he and Kamalnathan crossed Woodlands Checkpoint, he carried one of the three blocks of Drugs, while Kamalnathan carried the other two. Kamalnathan took the lead in the delivery; it was he who received instructions from “Boss” (Suren) through his handphone, established contact with Chandroo at Kranji Road, and received money and two empty plastic bags from him. Kamalnathan suggested, in the course of the Kranji Road meeting, that the trio regroup at the Kranji MRT station coffee shop due to the presence of police in the vicinity, and left with Pravinash for the Kranji MRT station where they were arrested. Pravinash, however, denied knowing the nature of the Drugs. Kamalnathan, in his police statements, admitted to keeping in contact with, and taking instructions from Suren, and to knowing that Pravinash had drugs on him on 5 March 2016 because he had been paid a significant sum of RM200 to bring Pravinash to Singapore. However, he asserted that it was Pravinash who had identified Chandroo who in turn gave Pravinash some white plastic bags and told them to go to Kranji MRT for an unknown reason, where they were arrested. At trial however, his account of the events changed: he asserted that he had entered Singapore to help Pravinash find a job and that the three blocks of Drugs contained “certificates” to be passed to “uncle”. It was Pravinash who told him to take instructions from Suren, which was to meet “uncle” along “the side of a road”. At Kranji Road, Kamalnathan made contact with Chandroo despite not knowing who “uncle” was and what he looked like. Chandroo handed him two plastic bags without being prompted and gave Pravinash S$20. However, Suren called him and informed him that Chandroo was not “uncle”, who was waiting at the overhead bridge outside Kranji MRT station. Both he and Pravinash then headed there, whereupon they were arrested. Chandroo denied all knowledge of drug trafficking and of the Drugs. According to his contemporaneous statement, he was on his way to Malaysia to pass the S$4,000 found on him to his friend to pay for his (Chandroo’s) house. He met Kamalnathan and Pravinash fortuitously for the first time along Kranji Road when Pravinash stopped and asked him for directions to Tekka. That was the sum total of the Kranji Road meeting. Subsequently, in his long statements and at trial, Chandroo claimed that he was at Kranji Road to pass money to a friend of his friend, “Sathish”. Of the S$4,000 he had on him, S$3,000 was to be passed to Sathish’s “friend” for various purposes (such as the repayment of a S$2,000 loan from his friend “Kumar” and payments for his house) and he would keep the remainder. Sathish did not identify this “friend” to him or give any contact details. At Kranji Road, both Kamalnathan and Pravinash established contact with him. The former asked him why he was late, and Pravinash asked him for directions to Tekka. Kamalnathan also asked him for a plastic bag (for an unknown reason), which he obliged. He also gave Kamalnathan S$20. Kamalnathan then suggested that they adjourn to a “Tamil coffeeshop” in the vicinity to receive the money to be passed to Sathish as Kranji Road was “rather dark”. When Chandroo arrived at the Kranji MRT station coffee shop, he observed Kamalnathan and Pravinash passing by without stopping. He left and was subsequently arrested.

The decision below The purpose of the Kranji Road meeting

In Public Prosecutor v Chandroo Subramaniam and others [2020] SGHC 206 (“the Judgment”), the Judge found that there was an agreed arrangement between Kamalnathan, Pravinash and Chandroo to meet each other on 5 March 2016 for the delivery of the Drugs to Chandroo (see the Judgment at [46]). The Judge relied on Pravinash’s evidence that both he and Kamalnathan had acted as they had done on three prior drug deliveries to Singapore on 1 March, 2 March and 4 March 2016 (“the Previous Drug...