JUDGMENT

Richard Malanjum CJ (Sabah & Sarawak):

Introduction

[1] The respondent was charged and convicted for trafficking 39,105 grams of cannabis by the Penang High Court on 9 July 1997. He was sentenced to death as required by s. 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (the Act).

[2] On appeal to the Court of Appeal the conviction was substituted for possession under s. 6 of the Act which is punishable under s. 39A(2) of the same Act. The respondent was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment and ordered to undergo 10 strokes of whipping.

[3] The prosecution now appeals before this court against the decision of the Court of Appeal. The respondent is cross-appealing against the substituted conviction and sentence.

[4] We heard the submissions by the learned Deputy Public Prosecutor and the learned counsel for the respondent. We note that the issues addressed before us are similar to what were canvassed before the Court of Appeal. Except for one issue, that is, on the application of the presumptions pursuant to ss. 37(d) and 37(da) of the Act by the learned trial judge, the Court of Appeal did not find sufficient merits on the rest of the issues raised.

[5] With respect, we are inclined to