REALLY DEEPAK? Rosmah's ex-friend explains why he suddenly decided to block P.I. Bala's widow's suit

Carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan, who is trying to set aside a consent order by the court reinstating a RM2 million suit by the widow of a key witness in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial, said he was not aware of the consequences when he first decided not to contest her appeal.

Deepak said he was shocked when the Court of Appeal on October 2 ordered A. Santamil Selvi's suit to be heard in the High Court.

"After realising the consequences, I appointed a lawyer to advise me and rectify the matter," he said in an affidavit sighted by The Malaysian Insider.

Deepak, who was unrepresented previously and has now appointed lawyer Abdullah Khubayb Awaluddin, said he would be seriously prejudiced if a trial were held.

The Court of Appeal will hear Deepak's application on Friday.

Deepak told the court previously that he agreed to the claims by the plaintiffs (Santamil and children) and was not opposing the appeal.

But on October 15, Deepak made a U-turn when he informed Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif during a case management that he would apply to set aside the consent order.

The case was recalled after counsel Rishwant Singh, appearing for senior lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham and his son Sunil, wrote a complaint letter to Raus that the order was defective in law.

They said the order was tantamount to reversing the High Court ruling last December to strike out Santamil’s suit against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and seven others.

Deepak Jaikishan

In June last year, Santamil filed the suit on behalf of the estate of her husband P. Balasubramaniam, who died of a heart attack on March 15, 2013 soon after his return from overseas.

That suit would expose the roles of several people in sending Santamil’s family into exile following controversies surrounding two statutory declarations by Bala involving Altantuya and Najib.

This also included why Bala was forced to retract his first sworn statement highlighting Najib’s alleged involvement with Altantuya, and why Bala and his family were forced to leave the country in 2008 for almost five years.

In December, High Court judge Datuk Hasnah Mohamed Hashim allowed an application by Najib, Rosmah, the prime minister’s brothers Datuk Johari and Datuk Nazim, Cecil, Sunil, commissioner of oath Zainal Abidin Muhayat and lawyer M. Arulampalam, to strike out the widow’s suit.

Hasnah said Santamil lacked the capacity to file for action on behalf of her husband’s estate and her pleadings were not according to law.

Altantuya

The Court of Appeal in April this year upheld the High Court decision on the grounds that Santamil’s notice of appeal was defective.

However, Deepak was not a respondent in Santamil’s appeal in the Court of Appeal.

Deepak had said he was not a voluntary party to strike out Santamil’s suit in the High Court.

In the suit, the family said the defendants, including Deepak, had caused Bala’s second statutory declaration to be drafted without instructions from him and further caused him to sign it “under threat and inducement”.

Bala and his family left Malaysia after he signed the second statutory declaration in 2008 to denounce the first one he made.

The second statement cleared the prime minister of involvement in the case.

Cecil was referred before the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary committee for professional misconduct over the drafting of the second statutory declaration. – TMI