Ramis a/l Muniandy v Public Prosecutor

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Chao Hick Tin JA
• Judgment Date: 03 August 2001
• Neutral Citation: [2001] SGCA 51
• Docket Number: Criminal Appeal No 8 of 2001
• Date: 03 August 2001
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Year: 2001
• Plaintiff Counsel: Subhas Anandan and Anand Nalachandran (Harry Elias Partnership) and G Dinagaran (Thomas Tham & Co)
• Citation: [2001] SGCA 51
• Defendant Counsel: Lee Lit Cheng and Seah Kim Ming Glenn (Deputy Public Prosecutors)
• Court: Court of Appeal (Singapore)
• Subject Matter: Findings of fact,Accused's bare denials,Whether charge proved,Criminal Procedure and Sentencing,Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 1998 Ed),Whether appellate court should to overturn trial judge's findings of fact,Proof of possession,Possession of controlled drugs for purpose of trafficking,Appeal,Proof of physical control over drugs,Whether such denials have value,Weight of evidence,ss 5(1)(a), 5(2) & 17(d) Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 1998 Ed),Criminal Law,Presumption of trafficking,Statutory offences,Evidence,Proof of knowledge of drugs

(delivering the grounds of judgment of the court): This was an appeal against the decision of Judicial Commissioner Choo Han Teck, who convicted the appellant, Ramis a/l Muniandy (`Ramis`) of an offence pursuant to s 5(1)(a) read with s 5(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act (Cap 185, 1998 Ed) (`the Act`) and sentenced him to suffer the punishment of death. We dismissed the appeal and now give our reasons.

The charge

The charge against Ramis read as follows:

That you, RAMIS A/L MUNIANDY on the 12th day of August 2000, at about 7.55 a.m., at the carpark along Marsiling Industrial Estate Road 2, beside Block 7, 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, 1529.8 grams nett of cannabis, 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) of the Misuse of Drugs Act, Chapter 185, and punishable under section 33 of the aforesaid Act.

The prosecution`s case

According to the prosecution, a tip-off pertaining to an impending cannabis transaction was received by officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (`CNB`) in the early hours of 12 August 2000. At 6.45am, a team of seven CNB officers assembled at Causeway Point in Woodlands. The team was led by Senior SSgt Qamarul Zaman (`Zaman`) and the other team members were SSgt Md Azman (`Azman`), Sgt Joe Pang Hee Lim (`Pang`), Cpl Rajkumar (`Rajkumar`), Cpl Chan Seng (`Chan`), Cpl Md Afandy (`Afandy`) and Cpl Abdul Rahman (`Rahman`).

Zaman briefed the team members about the cannabis transaction that was expected to take place between 7.30am and 8am in the vicinity of an Indian temple located along Marsiling Rise. The drug trafficker was believed to be a male Indian Malaysian who would be riding a Malaysian registered `Honda Cub` motorcycle.

The team left Causeway Point at about 7.05am and arrived at the car park of Block 120, Marsiling Rise at about 7.10am. While the rest of the officers remained at the car park, Afandy and Rahman surveyed the vicinity of the temple for suspicious characters but they did not spot any. They returned to the car park after about ten minutes. At about 7.30am, Rajkumar went to the temple to keep watch while Zaman kept watch at the bus stop diagonally opposite the temple. The remaining officers were on standby at the car park. The officers were to keep in contact by mobile phone.

At about 7.50am, both Zaman and Rajkumar spotted a `Honda Cub` motorcycle being ridden by a male Indian travelling along Marsiling Rise and thereafter turning onto Marsiling Industrial Estate Road 2. Zaman noted the registration number of the motorcycle (JFB 3451) and also noticed a `black thing` in the motorcycle`s front carrier basket. Although Zaman lost sight of the motorcycle for a while, Rajkumar walked down the pavement outside the temple towards the direction of the motorcycle so that he would not lose sight of it. He saw the male Indian park the motorcycle at the parking lots next to Block 7 of the industrial estate.

The male Indian then walked towards Marsiling Rise and stopped at the front of Block 7. At this point, he was within Zaman`s line of vision once again, so both Zaman and Rajkumar could see him. He was seen using his mobile phone and was looking at the temple as if he was waiting for someone. Rajkumar then called Azman, giving him the details of what he had just seen. Zaman also called Azman, asking him to come with the party of officers to effect arrest.

At about 7.55am, the remaining five officers, namely Azman, Pang, Chan, Afandy and Rahman, arrived in a CNB staff car at the place where the Indian male was standing and they arrested him. The male Indian was ascertained to be the appellant, Ramis.

Rahman searched him and found, inter alia, a key chain with three keys, one of which was later found to fit the ignition of the motorcycle bearing the registration number JFB 3451, which Ramis arrived on. Ramis was then taken to his motorcycle, which was covered with a dark blue raincoat. Before Zaman removed the raincoat, he asked Ramis the following question in English (which Rajkumar interpreted to Ramis in Tamil):

Q: Do you have anything to surrender on the bike?

A: Nothing.

Zaman then removed the raincoat, revealing a blue helmet and a `Puma` bag which was black and red in colour, in the front carrier basket of the motorcycle. Zaman asked Ramis (interpreted by Rajkumar in Tamil):

Q: This bag belongs to whom?

A: Not mine.

Thereafter, Zaman opened the `Puma` bag. It contained a white `Fuji Grand` plastic bag containing two blocks of compressed greenish vegetable matter in transparent plastic wrapping. Zaman questioned Ramis again (again interpreted by Rajkumar in Tamil):

Q: What is this?

A: `Roke`.

Q: What is the quantity?

A: I do not know.

Q: Does it belong to you?

A: It`s not mine.

Q: Whose is it?

A: I do not know.

Rajkumar testified that the term `roke` is the street jargon to describe cannabis.

Ramis was then brought to the CNB office at the Clementi Police Division HQ. An instant urine test conducted on him revealed traces of cannabis and amphetamine in his urine. At the CNB office, Zaman also reduced into writing the questions posed to and answers given by Ramis earlier. In addition, tests were carried out on the two blocks of greenish vegetable matter found in the motorcycle carrier basket. The first block was found to contain 782.1g of cannabis and 118.4g of cannabis mixture. The second block was found to contain 747.7g of cannabis and 193g of cannabis mixture.

Ramis was charged later in the afternoon. Pursuant to s 122(6) of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68), Ramis made the following statement: `I do not admit to the charges.`

The defence case

The accused elected to give evidence. He testified that on 12 August 2000 he entered Singapore from Johor at about 6.30am. After breakfast at Woodlands Centre, he rode to Marsiling where he parked his motorcycle next to Block 7 in the industrial estate. He arrived at 7.20am, as opposed to 7.50am as testified by the CNB officers. He waited for about 20 minutes and made two telephone calls during this time. This contradicted evidence from the prosecution witnesses that only about five minutes elapsed between the time Ramis arrived and the time of his arrest. His evidence was that from where he was standing he could not see his motorcycle throughout these 20 minutes.

Then, all of a sudden, a car stopped in front of him and he was arrested by the CNB officers. During his examination-in-chief, he testified that upon his arrest the CNB officers had to ask him where his motorcycle was, as opposed to their leading him to his motorcycle. This implied that the CNB officers had not been keeping an eye on his motorcycle. Ramis also denied that the CNB officers opened the white `Fuji Grand` bag inside the `Puma` bag found in his motorcycle carrier basket. He claimed that they did not see what was in the bag. He further denied that he used the word `roke`, saying that he knew what `ganga` was but did not know what `roke` was. His defence was that he did not know how the `Puma` bag got into the carrier basket of his motorcycle.

During cross-examination, Ramis testified that his purpose in going to the vicinity on the morning of 12 August 2000 was because one Kumar, an ex-colleague, was supposed to pick him up from there to help get him a job. Kumar had told him to wait at the parking lot area near the temple and to arrive between 7.30am and 8am but not later. However, he admitted that he had no way of contacting Kumar.

During closing submissions, counsel for...