R Kunaseegaran, in his application filed last week by his solicitors Messrs Cheong & Maman and sighted by FMT, is seeking a rehearing and any other relief the court deems appropriate.
He made the application under Rule 137 of the Federal Court Rules 1995, which allows a party to apply for a review of a Federal Court decision if there has been a serious injustice.
In an affidavit supporting the application, Kunaseegaran, who is currently held at the Sungai Buloh prison, said the three-member panel chaired by then chief justice Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat failed to consider his defence as submitted by his lawyers during the appeal.
Kunaseegaran said this amounted to a breach of natural justice, a sentencing disparity when compared with his two co-accused, and a miscarriage of justice.
On July 1, Tengku Maimun, sitting with now-retired Justice Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and Justice Rhodzariah Bujang, upheld the death sentence imposed on Kunaseegaran by the High Court.
Two others – S Nimalan, 32, and S Ravi Chandran, 54 – were sentenced to 35 and 40 years in prison, respectively.
Nimalan was also ordered to receive 12 strokes of the rotan, while Ravi Chandran was spared the cane due to his age.
The court acquitted three others – R Dinishwaran, 33; A K Thinesh Kumar, 32; and M Vishwanath – after ruling that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
Tengku Maimun said Kunaseegaran’s death sentence remained as he had withdrawn his appeal against the sentence.
Delivering the broad grounds of judgment, Abang Iskandar said the prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence to convict Kunaseegaran, Nimalan and Ravi Chandran.
He said the evidence was credible and compelling, and the defences put forward by the three did not raise doubt in the prosecution’s case.
The High Court had sentenced all the accused to death on July 10, 2020, after finding them guilty of murdering Morais on Sept 4, 2015, somewhere between Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, and Subang Jaya in Selangor.
Morais, 55, was reported missing on Sept 4, 2015, and was last seen leaving his apartment at Menara Duta in Kuala Lumpur in his official car. His body was found 12 days later in an oil drum filled with cement in Subang Jaya.
The prosecution contends that some of the accused staged a road accident to abduct Morais as he left his home.