Kuala lumpur: The Federal Court today upheld the death sentence imposed on a former pathologist colonel for the murder of Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Anthony Kevin Morais in 2015. A three-man bench led by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat affirmed the murder conviction of Colonel Dr R. Kunaseegaran, 62, alongside S. Nimalan, 31, and S. Ravi Chandran, 53.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, while both Nimalan and Ravi Chandran were spared the gallows, their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Nimalan received a 35-year prison sentence with 12 strokes of the cane, while Ravi Chandran was sentenced to 40 years in jail without whipping due to his age.
Justice Tengku Maimun stated that Kunaseegaran’s death sentence remained as he had withdrawn his appeal against it. The court, which also included Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang, discharged and acquitted three other individuals-R. Dinishwaran, 32, A.K. Thinesh Kumar, 31, and M. Vishwanath, 34-due to insufficient evidence.
Justice Abang Iskandar declared the court was satisfied that the convictions against Kunaseegaran, Nimalan, and Ravi were justified, leading to the dismissal of their appeals against the convictions. However, he noted that the evidence was insufficient to uphold the murder convictions of the other three appellants.
The six men were initially sentenced to death on July 10, 2020, after being found guilty of murdering Morais, 55, on September 4, 2015. The Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals on March 14 of the previous year. Morais was reported missing on that date and was last seen leaving his Kuala Lumpur apartment. His body was later discovered in a cement-filled oil drum in Subang Jaya.
During the proceedings, lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan, representing Kunaseegaran, confirmed his client’s decision to withdraw his appeal against the death sentence. Meanwhile, Nimalan’s counsel Datuk Amer Hamzah Arshad and Ravi Chandran’s lawyer Kitson Foong requested the court to commute their clients’ death sentences to life imprisonment. Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohd Fairuz Johari argued for maintaining the death sentences due to the crime’s severe nature.
Following the decision, the lawyers expressed gratitude to Justices Tengku Maimun and Abang Iskandar, both nearing retirement. Justice Tengku Maimun acknowledged the legal community’s support and contributions to the law, with her retirement scheduled for tomorrow and Abang Iskandar’s for Wednesday.
In today’s proceedings, lawyer Jasmine Cheong also represented Kunaseegaran, while other legal representatives included Y. Sheelan Shamuagam for Dinishwaran, Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid for Thinesh Kumar, Afifuddin Ahmad Hafifi for Vishwanath, Amer Hamzah for Nimalan, and Kitson Foong for Ravi Chandran. Deputy Public Prosecutors Datuk Yusaini Abdul Karim, Mohd Fairuz Johari, and Mohd Fuad Abdul Aziz represented the prosecution.