BUTTERWORTH — The Butterworth High Court today acquitted and discharged two men who were previously charged with the murder of a car wash worker in 2020.

Ananth Sooria, 41, a car wash owner, and his employee, M. Kalaimanan, 36, had been accused of causing the death of former car wash worker S. Gehanathan at a car wash centre on Jalan Gan Chai Leng at around 11.30am on March 19, 2019.

Both men were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34, which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

The prosecution’s case relied heavily on the testimony of Prosecution Witness 12 (SP12), the sole eyewitness to the alleged incident. However, the court found the witness’s testimony to be inconsistent and unreliable.

During examination-in-chief, SP12 claimed to have seen the first accused assaulting the deceased with a stick. However, during cross-examination, the witness said he could not remember who had attacked the victim and appeared confused. In re-examination, SP12 admitted he could no longer recall or confirm who had beaten the deceased.

Given the lack of credible eyewitness testimony and the absence of any independent corroborative evidence, the court ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused.

High Court Judge Puan Fathiyah binti Idris subsequently acquitted and discharged both men.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Puan Che Rohana binti Ismail led the prosecution.

Ananth Sooria was represented by lawyers M.M. Athimulan, Ashok Athimulan, and Eileen Ong, while Kalaimanan was represented by lawyers RSN Rayer and Arvend Rajan.

When contacted, defence counsel Ashok Athimulan described the case as a challenging one, noting the serious nature of the charge and the weight of the evidence involved.

“It was a tough case. However, the learned judge conducted a thorough and maximum evaluation of the evidence presented by the prosecution. After careful analysis, the court found that there was insufficient evidence to call for the defence,” he said.

Ashok added that the judge’s decision to acquit reflected the lack of credible testimony and the failure of the prosecution to establish a prima facie case against the accused.