M Kartik and S Haridaran were spared their lives as the five-man bench led by Raus Sharif were not convinced that a sole eyewitness to the alleged crime was credible.

” The convictions by the High Court are unsafe and both are acquitted,” Raus said.

Kartik, 24 and Haridaran, 29 are said to have committed the offence on S Pusphanathan, 18 at the Tasik Golf Club in Serendah, Selangor on Sept 14, 2010.

Kartik’s lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik argued that the findings of the trial judge in 2014 was not safe as she failed to assess the credibility of M Manimaran, a former Royal Malaysian Air Force employee.

“There were many contradictions in the evidence of this witness and this was not considered by the trial judge,” he said.

Hisyam said Manimaran was an unreliable prosecution witness.

Kartik and Haridaran, represented by Saba Dea Arunasalam, gave evidence that they were not at the crime scene.