Federal Court Upholds Death Sentence for Ex-Army Pathologist Kunaseegaran Over Kevin Morais Murder

PUTRAJAYA, July 31 — The Federal Court today upheld the death sentence imposed on former army pathologist Colonel R. Kunaseegaran after dismissing his review application challenging the apex court’s earlier decision affirming his conviction and sentence for Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Kevin Morais’ murder.

A three-member bench chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Seri Hashim Hamzah alongside Federal Court judges Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah and Datuk Azimah Omar unanimously ruled that Kunaseegaran failed to meet the strict legal threshold required for a review under Rule 137 of the Rules of the Federal Court 1995.

Delivering the unanimous decision, Justice Hashim stated that Kunaseegaran, 63, had voluntarily withdrawn his appeal against his sentence during earlier Federal Court proceedings, leaving no remaining legal issue for the bench to determine regarding his capital punishment.

The apex court also rejected defence arguments claiming that the previous Federal Court panel had only considered limited issues regarding motive and defective charges.

Justice Hashim clarified that official notes of proceedings demonstrated that the prior panel had thoroughly examined all critical aspects of the case, including circumstantial evidence, the nature of the charges, key prosecution witness testimonies, and Kunaseegaran’s defence.

“It is therefore incorrect to claim that those issues were not considered by the previous panel,” Justice Hashim ruled.

The court further held that the absence of full written grounds of judgment does not automatically justify a review of an earlier decision, concluding that there had been no breach of Articles 5 and 8 of the Federal Constitution.

Earlier during submissions, Kunaseegaran’s lead counsel, Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, argued that his client was denied a fair hearing because both the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court had failed to adequately address all six grounds of appeal, thereby violating his constitutional rights.

Countering the application, Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Saiful Edris Zainuddin submitted that the previous Federal Court panel had comprehensively evaluated all facts, legal questions, and submissions from both sides, ensuring no miscarriage of justice occurred that would warrant a review under Rule 137.

Kunaseegaran was among six men convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court on July 10, 2020, for the brutal murder of Morais, who was reported missing on Sept 4, 2015. The prosecutor’s body was later discovered encased in a cement-filled oil drum in Subang Jaya.

The offence took place between 7 am and 8 pm on Sept 4, 2015, across several locations along Jalan Dutamas Raya in Sentul and No. 1, Jalan USJ 1/6D in Subang Jaya.

The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions and sentences on March 14, 2024.

On July 1, 2025, the Federal Court affirmed Kunaseegaran’s conviction and death sentence following the withdrawal of his appeal against sentence. In that same ruling, the apex court commuted the death sentences of co-accused S. Nimalan, 33, and S. Ravi Chandran, 55, to terms of imprisonment, while acquitting the remaining three accused—R. Dinishwaran, 34, A.K. Thinesh Kumar, 33, and M. Vishwanath, 36.

At today’s review proceedings, Kunaseegaran was also represented by defence lawyers Datuk N. Sivananthan, A. Surendra Ananth, Jasmine Cheong, and Abby Si Xinyi, while deputy public prosecutors Zaki Asyraf Zubir, Norshazwani Ishak, Mohamad Arif Aizuddin Masrom, and Jasmee Hameeza Jaafar represented the prosecution.

–NMT