Judicial Commissioner Avinder Singh Gill rejected a motion for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal, adding that recording an acquittal could also wrongly suggest the deceased had been cleared after a trial on the merits. (Reuters pic)PETALING JAYA: Criminal proceedings against an accused who dies before trial must be recorded as having abated, rather than ending in a discharge or acquittal, the High Court in Johor Bahru has ruled.
Judicial Commissioner Avinder Singh Gill said the law did not contemplate continuing a prosecution against someone who had died, as criminal proceedings are personal to the accused.
“The proceedings do not survive the accused. They abate upon his death,” he said in a ruling arising from a joint drug trafficking case.
