Bashkeran a/l Salliah v Pendakwa Raya

Appellant(s): Bashkeran A/L Salliah

Respondent(s): Pendakwa Raya

• YA Dato' Azmi Bin Ariffin
• YA Datuk Hayatul Akmal binti Abdul Aziz
• YA Datuk Meor Hashimi bin Abdul Hamid

• The appellant was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 after being arrested near a convenience store with a brown envelope containing 182 grams of methamphetamine.
• The prosecution’s case rested on the testimony of the raiding officer who observed the appellant holding the envelope, which subsequently fell when the appellant tripped while attempting to flee.
• The appellant’s defense was that he was a courier and that the drugs were actually discovered by the police in the boot of a borrowed car, rather than in his physical possession.

• Whether the trial judge erred in rejecting the defense as an "afterthought" due to the appellant’s failure to cross-examine prosecution witnesses on key defense points and the two-year delay in filing a police report.
• Whether the prosecution’s failure to call or offer certain witnesses (a recording officer and other store employees) and the non-production of CCTV footage triggered an adverse inference under Section 114(g) of the Evidence Act 1950.
• Whether the High Court correctly applied the law regarding "red-handed" possession and the statutory presumption of trafficking.

• The Court dismissed the appeal, affirming that the trial judge’s findings on witness credibility were sound and that the appellant’s delayed police report was rightly dismissed as a self-serving afterthought.
• The Court held that Section 114(g) of the Evidence Act 1950 did not apply because the uncalled witnesses were not material to the unfolding of the narrative and the CCTV footage was merely corroborative, not essential for proving identity or the act of possession.
• The Court concluded that the prosecution had proven the elements of possession and knowledge beyond reasonable doubt through credible direct evidence, and the appellant failed to rebut the presumption of trafficking on a balance of probabilities.