British court says 'no' to Batang Kali 'massacre' probe

The High Court in London has ruled against an application to review the British government's decision not to hold an inquiry into the 1948 Batang Kali shootings carried out by British troops.

According to British daily The Guardian, the High Court ruled on the matter today after a hearing in May in London. 

The sitting judges concluded that the government's decision was "not unreasonable", ruled Sir John Thomas, president of the Queen's Bench division of the High Court, who sat with Mr Justice Treacy.

"There are no grounds for disturbing their conclusion. In our judgment, they had regard to the relevant factors and weighed them carefully and reached a conclusion which it was plainly open to them to reach."

The suit was initiated by relatives of the shooting victims who wanted the British court to overturn the government decision. 

They claim that British troops had slaughtered 24 rubber plantation workers.

'A blot on British colonisation'

Relatives told the High Court that there was enough evidence to justify an independent inquiry and that incident was "a blot on British colonisation and decolonisation".

However, Britain insisted that its troops were performing a legitimate operation against communist insurgents during the Malayan Emergency.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Defence Secretary Philip Hammond had opposed the relatives' application, arguing that the decision not to probe the matter was reached lawfully. 

The relatives' counsel, John Halford, said his clients would appeal the decision. 

"As long as the injustice remains, the families will be pursuing legal action," Halford said. 

He urged his government to "do the right thing" and "end the ongoing injustices at the heart of this case".