S.S. Padmanadan v. Hon Attorney General – CA 90/2013-2015

In the case between S.S. Padmanadan (Appellant) and the Hon Attorney General, Attorney General’s Department (Respondent), the court addressed the issue of the appropriateness of the death sentence imposed for possession and trafficking of heroin. It was held that, considering the appellant’s lack of previous convictions, heroin addiction, and absence of evidence of habitual trafficking, the death sentences should be set aside and replaced with life imprisonment for both counts. The principle reaffirmed is that sentencing must consider individual mitigating circumstances, especially where statutory minimums do not expressly prohibit judicial discretion. This decision relied on established legal standards for sentencing in narcotics cases, emphasizing proportionality and fairness in the admi