Inmate appeared to have been singled out: Apex court

A death row inmate - one of 13 who have filed a civil case that is pending before the court - appeared to have been "singled out" by a decision to schedule him for execution on April 29.

The Court of Appeal said this in written grounds issued on Monday to explain why it upheld a stay of execution for Malaysian drug trafficker Datchinamurthy Kataiah a day before he was scheduled to be hanged.

Datchinamurthy, 36, and 12 other inmates on death row have a pending civil claim against the Attorney-General over the unauthorised disclosure of their personal letters.

Representing himself in court, he sought a judicial review in relation to the scheduling of his execution, which he argued resulted in him being treated differently from the other 12 inmates.

On April 28, High Court Judge Hoo Sheau Peng ordered a stay of execution pending the resolution of his judicial review application.

The stay was upheld that afternoon after a three-judge court dismissed an appeal by the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC).

On Monday, in its written grounds, the apex court said Datchinamurthy has shown that the civil case is a relevant pending proceeding in which his involvement is required.

"It was clear that (Datchinamurthy) would not have a reasonable opportunity to present his case... if the scheduled execution was proceeded with," said the grounds delivered by Justice Andrew Phang.

The apex court agreed that Datchinamurthy has shown a case of unequal treatment, until proven otherwise. The court said: "Although it could be that the differential treatment was reasonable in that it was based on legitimate reasons, it appeared at the present stage that the respondent had been 'singled out' by the decision to schedule him for execution..."

However, the court said this did not mean a prisoner awaiting capital punishment would automatically be granted a stay of execution on the basis of unequal treatment.

Whether a prisoner has a relevant pending proceeding would depend on the facts and circumstances concerned, said the court.

It made a distinction between the unusual context of the current case and unmeritorious actions to delay an execution, such as the case of Malaysian drug trafficker Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam.

Nagaenthran's last-minute attempt to halt his execution, originally scheduled on Nov 10 last year, gained international prominence. But the court said his lawyers' claim of a decline in his mental condition was baseless. He was hanged on April 27.

Datchinamurthy was convicted in 2015 of trafficking in not less than 44.96g of heroin and given the death penalty. His appeal was dismissed in 2016.

In 2020, while he and fellow inmate Gobi Avedian were seeking to stay their executions, Datchinamurthy complained that copies of their private letters were being forwarded by the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) to the AGC. The court dismissed their case but said SPS is not allowed to forward copies of inmates' documents without their consent or a court order.

Pre-trial conferences for the judicial review application and the civil claim are scheduled this month.