Criminologist and law lecturer Shamsher Thind Singh said there is no "general licence to kill" given to any police officer even if the suspects were gangsters or triad members.
"Every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction," said Shamsher, who obtained a PhD for criminology studies in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang.
"Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution guarantees the right to life of every person in this country," he told Malaysiakini.
Shamsher said it would be premature to make any comments pending the investigation by the authorities.
"However, I wish to share my understanding with the general public about the police power to cause death in the course of making an arrest," he said.
"Firstly, there is no general licence to kill given to any police officer.
"Be that as it may, the constitutional right to life is not absolute, and the Parliament allows the killing of any person under certain limited circumstances," he explained.
"One such situation is the oft-quoted right to self-defence."
Limits to 'self-defence'
According to section 100(a) of the Penal Code, any person (including a police officer) whose life is endangered by any other person may resort to the right of self-defence and cause the voluntary death of that other person.
"However, section 99(4) of the Penal Code provides a limitation, that is to say, the right to self-defence fails in the event more than necessary harm has been used," Shamsher pointed out.
He cited a previous shooting incident, saying now is a good time to revisit the case of Aminulrasyid Amzah, who was fatally shot by the police in 2010 when the 14-year old deceased, who was driving a vehicle at the time, failed to stop when ordered so.
Shamsher noted that the Court of Appeal was of the opinion that, "On the totality of the evidence, the action of the first defendant in firing the fatal shot which resulted in the death of the deceased was clearly unwarranted, unreasonable and unjustified."
He said for the sake of completeness, Section 15(3), read together with Section 15(2), of the Criminal Procedure Code allows a police officer to cause the death to any person who was resisting or evading an arrest.
However, this is allowed provided that the said person is accused of an offence punishable with the death penalty or life imprisonment, and that the force used to kill him was necessary for the arrest, Shamsher added.
"This right has a very limited application and as such rarely invoked by the police," he stressed.
Cops urged to come clean
Last Saturday, Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin said three men, believed to have been involved an armed robbery, were killed during an exchange of fire, and a search of their vehicle found two semi-automatic handguns, three machetes and face masks.
On Sept 6, the family of the two dead men demanded answers from police on what had transpired during the shooting incident.
They also urged police to come clean on the fate of the wife of one of the deceased who is now missing.
The family said they were puzzled with police's statement that the duo (G Thavaselvan and V Janarthanan), who were in-laws, and their friend (S Maghendran) all of whom police shot dead in the incident, were suspected members of a home invasion gang.
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