SHAH ALAM: Three deputy public prosecutors in the murder trial of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three other individuals were yesterday subpoenaed to be witnesses in an application by the defendant to expunge two exhibits in the case.
The two exhibits were notes of proceedings involving the case of two prosecution witnesses, U Suresh and K Sarawanan, who were charged in the Telok Datok Magistrate’s Court in Banting for disposing evidence in the murder case. Suresh, 28, and Sarawanan, 21, are now serving 20 years’ imprisonment in Sungai Udang Prison, Melaka.
Earlier, counsel Gurbachan Singh, who represented one of the accused, T Thilaiyalagan, presented the application to expunge the two documents as exhibits as they were irrelevant to the murder case.
Lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon, who is representing the first accused, N Pathmanabhan, said the rationale of the prosecution in presenting the two exhibits at the end of the prosecution was to discredit Suresh and Sarawanan who had turned hostile.
He said the two documents had been presented to the court by deputy public prosecutors Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Saiful Edris Zainuddin and Idham Abd Ghani and they were involved in the proceedings of the case involving Suresh and Sarawanan at the Telok Datok Magistrate’s Court.
“Therefore, I request to subpoena the three DPPs and I apply for these three gentlemen to withdraw from this trial because it is unethical for them to continue conducting this trial,” he said.
Ishak said the prosecution took a serious view of the matter and needed time to prepare its submissions.
Saiful Edris said he had raised the matter involving the action of lawyer Ravi Nekoo who continued to represent the accused, R Matan, despite being called as a witness in a trial-within-a-trial proceeding before this.
He said Ravi’s action was against legal professionalism and ethics.
Manjeet said, if the prosecution were of that view, it should complain to the Bar Council.
Justice Datuk Akhtar Tahir later allowed the defence’s application to subpoena the three DPPs and set this Friday for arguments by both parties.
“There are two matters which I need to decide, that is whether the three deputy public prosecutors are relevant to be called as witnesses, and if I decide it is relevant, could they continue to be in the prosecution team for the case?,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ishak when met later by reporters, said the prosecution would apply for the defendant’s application to be set aside this Friday.
Former lawyer Pathmanabhan, 43, and three plantation workers, Thilaiyalagan, 21, Matan, 22, and R Kathavarayan, 32, have been ordered to enter their defence on the charges of murdering Sosilawati, 47, bank officer Noorhisham Mohamad, 38, lawyer Ahmad KamilAbdul Karim, 32, and Sosilawati’s driver, Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44. They were allegedly charged with commiting the offence at Ladang Gadong, Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjong Layang, Tanjung Sepat in Banting between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30, 2010. — Bernama