Subramanium Punyamoorthy v. The Hon. Attorney General – CA CASE NO- 180/2012-2012

In the case of Subramanium Punyamoorthy (Accused-Appellant) v. The Hon. Attorney General (Respondent), the court examined the lawfulness of the conviction for possession and trafficking of 813.39 grams of heroin under sections 54(A) and 54(B) of the Poisons Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance. The appellate scrutiny focused on whether the prosecution established, beyond reasonable doubt, the exclusive possession of heroin by the accused-appellant, and whether the High Court’s conviction and sentence of death constituted a miscarriage of justice. The findings confirmed the trial judge’s acceptance of police and analytical evidence in preference to the defence’s version. The legal principle reaffirmed is that appellate courts defer to the trial judge’s assessment of witness credibility unles