A five-member apex court review panel led by Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat ordered the revised jail terms of M Rajendran, 56, and former debt collector G Krishna Rao, 47, to begin from March 13, 1998, the day of their arrest.
They are expected to walk free today taking into account a one-third remission on sentences normally granted to prisoners, their lawyers told FMT.
They had brought their review under the Revision of the Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life (Temporary Jurisdiction of the Federal Court) Act 2023 following the abolition by Parliament of the mandatory death penalty earlier this year.
Also on the panel hearing the application were Chief Judge of Malaya Zabidin Diah, and Federal Court judges Hasnah Hashim, Nordin Hassan and Abu Bakar Jais.
Rajendra and Krishna were initially sentenced to death after being convicted for the murder of four people, including the wife and son of a goldsmith in Ipoh, which grabbed the headlines of the media at the time.
Although their appeals to the Court of Appeal and Federal Court were unsuccessful, they were spared the death sentence by the Pardons Board, which accepted their petition for clemency in 2014 and commuted their sentences to jail terms for the remainder of their natural life.
Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Dusuki Mokhtar called for the apex court to impose a maximum 40-year jail term on both applications given the nature of injuries suffered by their victims.
“The victims were brutally murdered, based on the evidence of a forensic pathologist,” he added.
Lawyer Abdul Rashid Ismail, who represented Rajendran, asked for a lesser jail term as his client was found guilty based on circumstantial evidence.
Counsel V Parthipan, who appeared for Krishna, said his client was remorseful and had spent his prime years in jail.
Rajendran is also married to Krishna’s sister.
Rajendran and Krishna were jointly charged with K Kumaresan for the murders of goldsmith S Nalliah’s wife S Veeramah, 48, their son N Sathian, 15, and Indonesian maid Juriyah @ Sariyah, 35, at a house in Bercham, Perak.
The offences were committed at the house in Taman Seri Dermawan between 6.30pm on March 12, 1998 and 11.45pm the following day.
They were also charged with the murder of part-time watchman M Balakrishnan, 52, at Malligah Jewellers in Jalan Lahat, which took place during the same timeframe.
Kumaresan was acquitted without his defence being called.
In August 1999, then High Court judge Kang Hwee Ghee convicted Krishna and sentenced him to death after he opted not to testify at the trial. Rajendran, who gave evidence under oath, was also convicted, and received the same sentence.
In January 2007, the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals.
On Feb 16, 2009, a three-member Federal Court bench chaired by Justice Richard Malanjum, who became the chief justice in 2018, also dismissed their appeals, noting the concurrent findings of both the High Court and the Court of Appeal. He also said there was no miscarriage of justice during the proceedings.
Malanjum said the evidence by a consultant forensic pathologist revealed that the four victims were murdered in a brutal fashion given the multiple stab wounds they suffered.
He said the trial judge was correct to admit as evidence information given by Krishna which led to the discovery of Balakrishnan’s body, and by Rajendran, who hid the stolen jewellery in Ulu Kinta.
He also said the prosecution had proved a common intention between the duo to commit the crimes.