A three-member Court of Appeal bench, chaired by Justice Azmi Ariffin, said it found special circumstances to allow Syed Shah Iqmal’s application for a stay of sentence.

Azmi, who sat with Justices Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz and Meor Hashimi Abdul Hamid, said Syed Shah Iqmal was found to have attended court without fail during the trial and appeal.

“There is no risk of him absconding while on bail. We have also considered that he is a first-time offender,” he said.

The bench imposed bail of RM40,000 with two sureties and ordered that his passport be kept at the High Court.

“You are, however, at liberty to apply to travel overseas, such as to perform the haj or umrah,” said Azmi.

Azmi said Syed Shah Iqmal must report to the Section 6 police station in Shah Alam monthly, between the first and fifth day of the month, until the disposal of his appeal. He said any breach would result in the revocation of bail.

Lawyers M Athimulan, Abu Bakar Isa Rahmat and Baharudeen Ariff appeared for Syed Shah Iqmal, while deputy public prosecutor Atiqah Abdul Karim represented the prosecution, which opposed the application.

Athimulan said the applicant had filed his notice of appeal, and his continued incarceration would affect his liberty if the Court of Appeal allowed the final appeal.

On Aug 30, 2024, a sessions court sentenced Syed Shah Iqmal to 10 years’ imprisonment and three strokes of the rotan, finding him guilty of raping a woman in a condominium unit at I-City, Seksyen 7, Shah Alam, at around 1.35am on Sept 11, 2019.

On Jan 23, Shah Alam High Court judge Justice Adlin Abdul Majid affirmed the conviction and sentence and ordered him to serve the jail term immediately.