SHAH ALAM: A mechanic, paralysed from the waist down and convicted of possessing 17.71 grammes of methamphetamine, was spared from being given three strokes of the cane for the offence after the High Court here today revoked the punishment which was handed down in 2020.
Judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman made the ruling after being told about the health of the accused Ben Khaled Abd Molok, 42, which was not appropriate for the whipping sentence over drug possession.
“The court uses its discretion provided under Section 291 of the Criminal Procedure Code to amend the sentence. So the court remitted the punishment (whipping) due to health factors,“ he said.
Ben Khaled was sentenced to three years in prison and three strokes of the cane by the High Court, here on Aug 17, 2020, for drug possession.
He was charged with committing the offence in a car workshop in Jalan Tago, Tago Industrial Park, Sri Damansara, Gombak at 4 pm on Feb 12, 2019.
Earlier deputy public prosecutor Tengku Suraya Tengku Ismail informed that the court has the authority under Section 291 of the Criminal Procedure Code to amend the sentence of three strokes of the cane on Ben Khaled as a prison doctor confirmed in his report that it was not suitable for the man to be whipped.
Meanwhile, Ben Khaled’s lawyer, Hafizuddin Salehuddin, when met outside the court, said that his client who had completed his time in prison and was now a free man, following today’s decision.
He will be released after all the documentation processes in prison are completed, he added.
On Wednesday, Ben Khaled, who had been convicted of trafficking 10.53 grammes of methamphetamine escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal acquitted and discharged him of the charge.
A Court of Appeal three-man panel led by Justice Datuk Seri Kamaludin Md Said, in acquitting and discharging Ben Khaled Abd Molok, ruled the drug trafficking conviction against him was not safe.
Hafizuddin in the proceeding on Wednesday said Ben Khaled became paralysed in 2020 due to tuberculosis which affected his spine.-Bernama