PP v Muhammad Rajis bin Abdullah

The accused was charged under s 70(4)(a) read with ss 67(1) and 67(2)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 for failing to provide a blood specimen at Changi General Hospital after being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving on 8 October 2022. The central legal issue, described as one of first impression, was whether the treating doctor had given the contemporaneous authorisation required under s 71 of the RTA before a police officer could lawfully require a blood specimen from a hospitalised patient. The District Court acquitted the accused, holding that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the doctor had given such authorisation at the material time, and that a later retrospective medical risk assessment could not substitute for contemporaneous authorisation.