THE Federal Court today upheld the death penalty on ex-military doctor R. Kunaseegaran, 62, for his role in the murder of deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais in 2015.
The court maintained Kunaseegaran's death sentence after his lawyer, Datuk N. Sivanathan, informed the judges that his client wished to withdraw his appeal against the sentence and proceed with the execution of the penalty.
Chief Justice Tengku Maimum Tuan Mat, who led a three-member panel set aside the conviction and freed three others involved in the murder as the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
Those freed were R Dinishwaran, 33, AK Thinesh Kumar, 32, and M Vishwanath, 35.
The trio were released by prison warders when the court stood down for about 15 minutes.
Others in the three-member bench panel were outgoing Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Federal Court judge Datuk Rhodzariah Bujang.
The court also set aside the death sentence of S Nimalan, 32; and S Ravi Chandran, 54, and sentenced them to 35 years and 40 years in prison, respectively.
Nimalan was also given 12 strokes of the rotan, while Ravi Chandran was spared the rotan due to his age.
The judges had reserved their judgment on May 14, after hearing submissions from the prosecution and defence.
Kunaseegaran, along with Ravi Chandran, Dinishwaran, Thinesh Kumar, Vishwanath and Nimalan were convicted by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in July 2020 for the murder of Morais, 55.
The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in a ruling delivered on March 14 last year.
The murder took place at a location along Jalan Dutamas Raya Sentul and Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7 am and 8 pm on September 4, 2015.
Morais was last seen leaving in a Proton Perdana car from his Menara Duta condominium, Kuala Lumpur, to his office at the Attorney-General’s Chambers in Putrajaya.
His body was found in a concrete-filled drum at Persiaran Subang Mewah, Subang Jaya, on September 16 of the same year. – July 1, 2025
