JUDGMENT

Gopal Sri Ram JCA:

[1] The accused (respondent before us) was charged for trafficking in 738.31 grams of cannabis, an offence punishable under s. 39B(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 ("the Act") . At the close of the prosecution's case the learned trial judge, acting on the evidence before him, amended the charge to one of possession under s. 6 of the Act punishable under s. 39A(2) . The accused pleaded guilty to the amended charge and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment from the date of his arrest. Whipping was also imposed. The prosecution being dissatisfied with the decision of the learned judge to amend the charge appealed to this court. We heard and dismissed the appeal. The reasons for our decision are now produced.

[2] The facts of the case are these. On 24 October 2000 at about 5.15am, PW7 (Chief Inspector Chia Aik Chin) acting on information that he had received conducted a raid on a house in Jalan Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur. The front door was unlocked. So, the police party entered. PW7 found four men lying asleep on the floor of the living room. Two members of the police party, namely, PW7 and PW8 went to the middle part of the house. There they found a room