Court of Appeal chooses heart over jail term

The Court of Appeal today set aside a jail term for a man with a heart condition and bound him over instead, demonstrating that it has a heart too!

Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, chairing a three-member panel, set aside K. Jayabalan's two-year jail term and RM5,000 fine and bound him over for three years with one surety and a bond of RM5,000.

"We have decided to temper justice with mercy. We allow the appeal to set aside the sentence and bind him over under Section 294 of the Criminal Procedure Code," said Justice Raus.

Jayabalan, 64, warded at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh for heart failure, diabetes, kidney failure and mental disorder, was brought to the court in a private ambulance for the hearing of his appeal.

He was brought to the court in an ambulance because his appeal had been postponed 17 times since 2010 due to his absence in court due to his medical condition.

His counsel Datuk Naran Singh informed the court that Jayabalan, on drips and oxygen treatment, was lying on a stretcher in the ambulance parked behind of the court building.

The lawyer informed the court that a Court of Appeal registrar and deputy public prosecutor Dzulkifli Ahmad went to see Jayabalan in the ambulance before the court sat.

Jayabalan had appealed against the conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court on July 24, 2010, for having cheated Alimtex (M) Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Abdul Majid Mohamed Thamim by deceiving him into believing that he could provide a loan of US$50 million which he knew he could not.

He was accused of dishonestly inducing Abdul Majid to hand over RM909,000 to him as collateral payment to secure the loan at the Jayaputra Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd office in Medan Perhentian, Medan Kidd, Ipoh, between Nov 6, 1998, and Dec 3, 1998.

On Jan 15, 2009, the Sessions Court in Ipoh found him guilty and sentenced him to 12 months jail and fined him RM5,000. The High Court, on July 28, 2010, enhanced his jail sentence to two years jail.

Naran Singh also told the court that his client was seriously ill and he could not communicate with him, and said that after discussion with his family, he decided to withdraw the appeal against the conviction.

He then argued that this was a special case and asked the court to consider setting aside the jail sentence and binding him over under Section 294 of the CPC as the medical report showed that Jayabalan was not fit. Naran Singh appealed to the court to temper justice with mercy.