Public Prosecutor v Krishna Raj Mathivanan

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Tay Yong Kwang JC
• Judgment Date: 03 December 1998
• Neutral Citation: [1998] SGHC 398
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Year: 1998
• Published date: 27 March 2013
• Plaintiff Counsel: Lim Jit Hee and Kevin Tan (Attorney-General's Chambers)
• Defendant Counsel: Subhas Anandan (M P D Nair & Co) (assigned) assisted by Rashidah Kader Saheer (K S Chia Gurdeep & Param) (assigned)
• Citation: [1998] SGHC 398

Judgment :

GROUNDS OF DECISION

1 The Accused is a 41-year-old male, employed as a lashing worker at the Port of Singapore Authority ("PSA"). He was charged with the following:

"That you, KRISHNA RAJ MATHIVANAN

on the 1^st day of July 1998, at or about 5.25 pm, at Block 16 Eunos Crescent #12-2841, Singapore, did traffic in a controlled drug specified in Class "A" of the First Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, to wit, by having in your possession for the purpose of trafficking, seven (7) plastic packets and one (1) plastic straw containing not less then 48.84 grams of diamorphine at the aforesaid place without any authorisation under the said Act or the regulations made thereunder, and you have thereby committed an offence under section 5(1)(a) read with section 5(2) and punishable under section 33 of the Misuse of Drugs Act."

2 He pleaded guilty but since the Charge carries the mandatory death penalty, by convention, I rejected his plea of guilt and directed that the Prosecution prove its case. I was informed by Mr Subhas Anandan that he had been instructed by the Accused not to ask any questions or to make any submissions.

THE PROSECUTION’S CASE

3 On 1 July 1998, at about 2.10 pm, Cpl S Rajkumar of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) received information that a male Indian known as ‘Martin’ was believed to be trafficking in diamorphine and that he was seen near Gate 2 of the PSA. The informant also stated that ‘Martin’ was staying in a rented HDB flat at Block 16 Eunos Crescent #12-2841 ("the flat") and that he was about 40 years old, tall, with dark complexion and wavy hair and usually went about with his shirt outside his trousers. Cpl S Rajkumar then went to Gate 2 of the PSA together with two other CNB officers.

4 At about 3.20 pm, they spotted two male Indians near the canteen at the said Gate 2, one of whom matched the description given of ‘Martin’. The CNB officers arrested the two men for suspected consumption of controlled drugs. ‘Martin’ was the Accused.

5 A physical search of the Accused’s person recovered $2925 in cash, a POSB Cash-On-Line card, a bunch of four keys and one Ericsson handphone. The CNB officers then brought the two men back to the CNB Divisional office.

6 Back at the office, a thorough body search was conducted on the Accused. This led to the recovery from the Accused’s underwear of a plastic packet containing 7 sachets and 8 straws of whitish powdery substance believed to be heroin. These items are not the subject of the Charge in this trial. The Accused admitted ownership of these items but claimed that the keys seized from him earlier belonged to a friend and wee for a locker at the PSA. The other male Indian arrested with the Accused was released as nothing incriminating was found on him.

7 Kumudhavalli d/o Tanabal or Sheila, a divorcee and former drug supervisee, was the Accused’s girlfriend. They had known each other for more than a year and had been cohabiting before the Accused was arrested. They used to live together in various cheap hotels. Kumudhavalli and the Accused have a son who was born pre-maturely in April 1998.

8 The flat at Eunos Crescent was tenanted to Kumudhavalli fully furnished at $1,000 per month for one year. Kumudhavalli was alone when she signed the tenancy agreement but she told the joint-owner of the flat that she was married. On 21 June 1998, a total of 9 keys for the flat were handed over by the joint-owner of the flat to Kumudhavalli. The joint-owner did not visit the flat until some time after the Accused had been arrested on 1 July 1998. The only persons, other than the owners of the flat, who had the keys to the flat were the Accused and Kumudhavalli.

9 At about 4.50 pm, the following four CNB officers:

(1) SGT Young Kee Kit;

(2) SGT Jazuli bin Bakran;

(3) SSG B Chandrasegaran; and

(4) Cpl S Rajkumar

brought the Accused to the flat at Eunos Crescent. When they were walking along the corridor leading to the flat, the Accused admitted in English to SSG Chandrasegaran on his own accord that the keys seized from him earlier were actually for the flat and that there were drugs therein.

10 The party used the said keys to gain entry into the flat. Kumudhavalli was inside and she was arrested for suspected drug consumption.

11 The CNB officers then proceeded to search the flat. Cpl Rajkumar searched the inner of the two bedrooms and found one packet of greenish vegetable matter believed to be cannabis and one ‘Tanita’ digital weighing scale inside the top drawer of a chest of drawers. Sgt Jazuli also searched that bedroom and found the Accused’s identity card on top of that same chest of drawers. He also found a long straw of substance believed to be heroin from the top of the wardrobe. This straw forms one of the subjects of the Charge. Inside the drawer of the dressing table, he found a red pouch containing three sachets of substance believed to be "Ice", one sachet of greenish vegetable matter believed to be cannabis and six tablets believed to be "Ecstasy".

12 At about 5.30 pm, the Accused led SSG Chandrasegaran and Cpl Rajkumar to the outer bedroom of the flat. As he was handcuffed with his hands behind him, he used his chin to point towards a cardboard box placed on the top of the wardrobe. This cardboard box used to contain a ‘Pioneer’ Video Compact Disc player bought by Kumudhavalli. Cpl Rajkumar brought the box down and found the following items inside:

(1) six large plastic packets and one small plastic packet of whitish powdery substance believed to be heroin inside a styrofoam box (these seven packets are part of the subjects of the Charge);

(2) a chess box containing a plastic packet of crystalline substance believed to be "Ice", one empty straw, two empty packets, six rolled up foils, one ear-pick and one tooth-pick; and

(3) four stacks of empty sachets.

Upon questioning by SSG Chandrasegaran, the Accused admitted ownership of all the seized drug exhibits.

13 At about 7.05 pm, the Investigation Officer ASP S Krishnan arrived at the flat and was briefed by SSG Chandrasegaran on the facts. ASP Krishnan then brought the Accused escorted by Cpl Rajkumar to the outer bedroom. There, the Investigation Officer questioned the Accused and recorded the questions and the Accused’s answers contemporaneously in his field diary. They spoke in English. The questions and answers went like...