JUDGMENT

Vincent Ng Kim Khoay J: The accused was charged as follows:

Bahawa kamu pada 11 Ogos 1987 jam lebih kurang 5.30 pagi di Jambatan Permatang Tok Labu, Kepala Batas, Seberang Perai, dalam Daerah Butterworth, di dalam Negeri Pulau Pinang, telah mengedar dadah berbahaya iaitu 70,952.1 gram ganja dan kamu telah melakukan suatu kesalahan di bawah s. 39B (1) (a) Akta Dadah Berbahaya 1952 (Semakan 1980) dan boleh dihukum di bawah s. 39B(2) Akta yang sama.

This case was first heard on 4 November 1992. The prosecution called and led evidence from nine witnesses. The nature and salient details of their evidence is as I have narrated in my earlier judgment (my said judgment) delivered on 27 November 1992 [see PP v. Alcontara [1992] 1 MLJ 140] which I do not propose to repeat here.

At the close of the prosecution case Mr. Karpal Singh, for the accused, took up only one point in his submission that the defence should not be called, namely that considering the evidence of the Government Chemist Encik Tai Teik Siew (PW1) in the light of the Supreme Court's decision in Loo Keck Leong v. PP [1992] 3 CLJ 1332 , the essential ingredient of the charge - being that the plant material seized was cannabis as defined under the then governing definition (old definition) in s. 2 of the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) had not been made out by the prosecution at the end of the prosecution case.

I had in my said judgment held in favour of the defence on this point and acquitted and discharged the accused without calling him to enter upon his defence. The prosecution appealed. The appeal was allowed by the Supreme Court on grounds as appeared in PP v. Alcontara [1993] 3 MLJ 568 (the Supreme Court decision), and as ordered by the Supreme Court the accused was called by this Court to enter upon his defence.

At the hearing of the defence case on 12 May 1994, the accused gave the following testimony and did not call any witness.

The accused (39 years of age at trial) was, at the time of his arrest residing with his wife Anneedlzevet a/p Stephen (PW6) at No. 600, Batu 2 275 Jalan Simpang Lawan Kuda, Taiping, Perak and was running his own pickle and keropok business. He then owned a car bearing registration number WBE 2789 (the said car) which he had registered under the name of PW6. On 10 August 1987 at about 7.00 pm his friend named Che Mat telephone him from Penaga, Butterworth, Penang to collect a consignment of keropok. Che Mat was a supplier of keropok who used to supply keropok to him to enable him to retail. Che Mat had been known to him for 6 to 7 months, but only as a business-friend. The accused was to earn RM300 as fee for services to be rendered on the said consignment of keropok, though his amount was not specifically mentioned during the phone conversation. The accused did not know the full address of the house where Che Mat stayed but he had been to Che Mat's house before to buy keropok. Immediately after the telephone conversation he drove the said car from Taiping at 7.00 pm and reached Che Mat's house at 10.00 pm. Che Mat was present in the house and the latter instructed the accused to send a quantity of keropok to one named Encik Osman in Selayang, Kuala Lumpur. He had been to Osman's place once before. There, at Che Mat's house, Che Mat instructed the accused to wait in his house while he borrowed the said car from the accused to collect the keropok from another place. The accused then remained in Che Mat's house, watched television and fell asleep therein. The boot of the said car was empty when the accused left Taiping for Kepala Batas. Che Mat only returned to his house at 5.00 am the next day i.e. 11 August 1987. As soon as Che Mat arrived he awoke the accused out of his sleep and prepared drinks for both of them. After they had their morning drink, Che Mat informed the accused that he had loaded keropok in the car and instructed him to send same to one Encik Osman in Taman Selayang Utama, Jalan Besar, Kuala Lumpur. The accused th