PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court has granted the prosecution leave to proceed with a review of the court’s earlier ruling that allowed it to hear applications from prisoners who had already received pardons for their death sentences.
In a 4-1 majority decision, a five-member bench led by Chief Justice Datuk Seri Wan Farid Wan Salleh ruled in favour of the prosecution’s application.
“We are of the view that leave ought to be granted and we now make such an order,” said Wan Farid when delivering the decision.
The majority ruling was supported by Court of Appeal President Datuk Abu Bakar Jais, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Hasnah Mohammed Hashim, and Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Azizah Nawawi. Federal Court Judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang dissented.
The hearing of the substantive merit of the review has been fixed on Oct 27 before a different panel of judges.
At the review hearing, the court will decide whether the Federal Court has jurisdiction under the Revision of the Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023 to review a pardons board’s decision.
The matter stems from an earlier Federal Court ruling on Aug 27, 2024, where a separate Federal Court bench ruled, in a 2-1 majority, that the court had jurisdiction to hear three prisoners’ reviews under the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023.
That ruling was made by Justices Tan Sri Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal (now retired) and Datuk Hanipah Farikullah, with Justice Datuk Nordin Hassan dissenting.
The case involved G. Jiva, 55; Phrueksa Taemchim, 41, a Thai national; and Mailesi Phiri, 48, a Zambian national, who had previously been sentenced to death for drug trafficking offences but later received clemency from the Pardons Board.
They were given 30-year prison terms to run from the date of their pardons.
The three then filed a review applications under the 2023 Act, asking the Federal Court to revise their sentences and for their sentence to run from the date of their respective arrests. The court subsequently granted their application.
Following the August decision, the prosecution filed an application under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995 to seek leave to review the 2-1 majority decision.
The prosecution contended that the judges who decided the majority ruling had acted beyond their jurisdiction.
It also argued that prisoners who have been pardoned cannot be in the same category with prisoners on death row or prisoners who were given natural life imprisonment and they were not eligible to file review applications under the 2023 Act.
The case initially involved four prisoners. However, the court struck out the prosecution’s review application against P. Balakrishnan, as they were unable to serve him the notice of motion. Balakrishnan had already been released from prison after completing his sentence.
The prosecution team was led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Saiful Edris Zainuddin. Phrueksa was represented by lawyer K. Simon Murali, Mailesi by Abdul Rashid Ismail, and Jiva by Datuk N. Sivananthan. – Bernama
