MASOUD RAHIMI BIN MEHRZAD & 35 Ors v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF SINGAPORE

Q: Which legislation does [2023] SGHC 346 consider?

The judgment refers to Applications in Capital Cases Act, Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68), Penal Code (Cap 224), and Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

[2023] SGHC 346 High Court (General Division) 5 December 2023 HC/OA 987/2023 ( HC/SUM 3096/2023 ) 33 min read

13 cases cited (12 SG, 1 foreign) Cited by 1 case

Key facts

Court	High Court (General Division)
Decided	5 December 2023
Judge	Hoo Sheau Peng
Charges / claim	Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law
Counsel	Attorney-General's Chambers, Chew Shi Jun James, J Jayaletchmi, Lim Tze Etsuko

Source: [2023] SGHC 346, High Court (General Division), decided 5 December 2023 — eLitigation. Updated 10 July 2026.

Catchwords

Civil Procedure — Striking out Constitutional Law — Equality before the law Constitutional Law — Fundamental liberties — Right to life and personal liberty

Practice Areas

Civil Procedure Constitutional Law

Judges (1)

Hoo Sheau Peng Delivered

Counsel (4)

Attorney-General's Chambers Firm Chew Shi Jun James Counsel Respondent J Jayaletchmi Counsel Respondent Lim Tze Etsuko Counsel Respondent

Parties (37)

The Attorney-General Respondent A Steven Raj s/o Paul Raj Applicant Chandroo Subramaniam Applicant Chong Hoon Cheong Applicant Datchinamurthy a/l Kataiah Applicant Gunalan Goval Applicant Hamzah bin Ibrahim Applicant Iskandar bin Rahmat Applicant Jumaat bin Mohamed Sayed Applicant Jumadi bin Abdullah Applicant Kishor Kumar A/L Raguan Applicant Lingkesvaran Rajendaren Applicant Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad Applicant Moad Fadzir bin Mustaffa Applicant Mohamed Ansari bin Mohamed Abdul Aziz Applicant Mohammad Azwan bin Bohari Applicant Mohammad Reduan bin Mustaffar Applicant Mohammad Rizwan bin Akbar Husain Applicant Mohd Akebal s/o Ghulam Jilani Applicant Muhammad Hamir bin Laka Applicant Muhammad Salleh bin Hamid Applicant Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj Applicant Pannir Selvam a/l Pranthaman Applicant Pausi bin Jefridin Applicant Ramdhan bin Lajis Applicant Roshdi bin Abdullah Altway Applicant Roslan bin Bakar Applicant Rosman bin Abdullah Applicant Saminathan Selvaraju Applicant Sanjay Krishnan Applicant Shisham bin Abdul Rahman Applicant Steve Crocker Applicant Sulaiman bin Jumari Applicant Syed Suhail bin Syed Zin Applicant Tan Kay Yong Applicant Teo Ghim Heng Applicant Zamri bin Mohd Tahir Applicant

Case Significance

Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad and others v Attorney-General [2023] SGHC 346 was a decision of the General Division of the High Court by Hoo Sheau Peng J in Originating Application No 987 of 2023 and Summons No 3096 of 2023, heard on 21 November 2023 with judgment reserved and delivered on 5 December 2023. The application, brought by 36 prisoners awaiting capital sentences, invoked Articles 9 and 12 of the Constitution concerning the right to life and personal liberty and equality before the law. The proceedings, which the Attorney-General met with a striking-out summons, engaged constitutional challenges alongside statutes including the Criminal Procedure Code, the Penal Code and the Supreme Court of Judicature Act.

[2023] SGHC 346 explained

MASOUD RAHIMI BIN MEHRZAD & 35 Ors v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF SINGAPORE ([2023] SGHC 346) is a Singapore judgment decided by the High Court (General Division) on 5 December 2023. It is categorised under Civil Procedure and Constitutional Law. Within this corpus it has since been cited by 1 other reported Singapore judgment, a measure of how often later decisions have referred to it. This page summarises what the reported decision covers and links the primary sources — the full judgment, the statutes it cites, and the other cases it engages with — so the decision can be read in context. It is reference information, not legal advice, and it does not state the outcome or any holding beyond what the official judgment records.

What is [2023] SGHC 346 about?

MASOUD RAHIMI BIN MEHRZAD & 35 Ors v ATTORNEY-GENERAL OF SINGAPORE ([2023] SGHC 346) is a High Court (General Division) decision from 2023. Its published catchwords are “Civil Procedure — Striking out”, “Constitutional Law — Equality before the law”, and “Constitutional Law — Fundamental liberties — Right to life and personal liberty”, which indicate the subject matter the judgment addresses. The full reasoning and orders are in the judgment itself, linked below.

Which legislation does [2023] SGHC 346 consider?

The judgment refers to Applications in Capital Cases Act, Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68), Penal Code (Cap 224), and Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322). The statutes cited are listed in full on this page, each linking to its primary text.

What earlier Singapore cases does [2023] SGHC 346 cite?

Among the in-corpus authorities it refers to are [2023] SGHC 266. The complete list of cases cited, and of later cases that cite this decision, is shown on this page.

How influential is [2023] SGHC 346?

Within this corpus, [2023] SGHC 346 has been cited by 1 later reported Singapore judgment. That count reflects references from other decisions held in this corpus only and is a conservative lower bound on how often the case has actually been cited.

Summary

Thirty-six prisoners awaiting capital punishment applied to the High Court for declarations that two new provisions introduced by the Post-appeal Applications in Capital Cases Act 2022 were void as inconsistent with Articles 9 and 12 of the Constitution, while the Attorney-General applied to strike out the application. The provisions had not yet come into force. Hoo Sheau Peng J found the applicants had no locus standi, held the constitutional challenge had no chance of success, and struck out the application as disclosing no reasonable cause of action.

What was Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad v Attorney-General [2023] SGHC 346 about?

It was an application by 36 prisoners invoking Articles 9 and 12 of the Constitution on the right to life and equality before the law, met by the Attorney-General's striking-out summons, decided by Hoo Sheau Peng J in the General Division of the High Court on 5 December 2023.

How many applicants were there in Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad v Attorney-General ([2023] SGHC 346)?

The application was brought by 36 prisoners, led by Masoud Rahimi bin Mehrzad, in Originating Application No 987 of 2023 with Summons No 3096 of 2023. Hoo Sheau Peng J heard it on 21 November 2023 and delivered judgment on 5 December 2023.

Statutes Cited

Applications in Capital Cases Act Cases on this Act →

Criminal Procedure Code (Cap 68) Cases on this Act →

s 394F

Penal Code (Cap 224) Cases on this Act →

s 377A

Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Cap 322) Cases on this Act →

s 60G(8)

Cases Cited (13)

SG (1)

[2023] SGHC 266

SLR (11)

[1997] 3 SLR(R) 649 [2006] 1 SLR(R) 112 [2012] 4 SLR 390 [2013] 4 SLR 1 [2015] 1 SLR 26 [2016] 3 SLR 135 [2021] 1 SLR 809 [2022] 1 SLR 1347 [2022] 2 SLR 1018 [2022] 2 SLR 1197 [2023] 4 SLR 1133

MY (1)

[1996] 4 MLJ 233