Assemblyman took woman’s car without permission, court told

Penang Hospital's Nursing College deputy director tells magistrate Batu Uban assemblyman Dr T Jayabalan took her Mercedes-Benz without permission and ‘destroyed’ it.

GEORGE TOWN: A high-ranking civil servant told a Magistrate’s Court here that a Penang assemblyman had not obtained express consent before using her Mercedes-Benz car.

T. Saroja Devi, 57, who is the deputy director of Penang Hospital’s Nursing College, said the car was later involved in an accident and “destroyed”.

She claimed that Batu Uban Assemblyman Dr T Jayabalan did not have the courtesy to inform her that her car would be driven by a third party out of Penang.

“He (Jayabalan) took it for granted that having the keys to the car gave him the right to do as he liked with the car.

“He is morally wrong as he did not utter a single word to me that he had taken my car. Not even a single phone call from him.

“The car had met with an accident at the North-South Expressway… I made a police report only after finding out that the car had met with an accident,” she said during cross-examination by Jayabalan’s counsel, CV Prabhakaran.

Saroja had filed a suit against Jayabalan following the accident. She is seeking general and special exemplary damages, a compensation of RM15,000 for the car and loss of RM100 a day for not being able to use her car from the date of the accident.

Magistrate Aziana Azib had earlier heard that Saroja’s husband had given the car keys to two of Jayabalan’s assistants on Aug 22 after telling them to get her consent before using the car.

However, she said, Jayabalan had not called her to get her express consent or notify her of his intention to take her car out of Penang.

Saroja also told the court that Jayabalan did not offer any compensation after the accident.

“All I could remember was he came to my house and told me, “Hey! Your car is a scrap!”

Prabhakaran then asked Saroja if Jayabalan had offered to buy the car.

To this, Saroja said “yes”.

However, Saroja told Prabhakaran that Jayabalan did not agree to the price she wanted.

“My client has offered to buy your car, why didn’t you take it? He has also offered a settlement, why didn’t you take it?” Prabhakaran queried.

Saroja said the offer made by Jayabalan was “way too low” and hence she did not take it.

Saroja, in her statement of claim, said she had made a police report over her missing car on October 2014 and that Jayabalan had turned up at her home with another man, urging her to withdraw her report.

She had refused to do so. She said she made another police report on Nov 22 the same year after failing to get her car back.

Saroja added that her car was taken away on Aug 22 from her home in Bayan Lepas by Jayabalan’s assistants without her knowledge.

“A third party informed me that the car had been involved in an accident in the North-South Expressway, allegedly driven by a man called Ishak Mat.

“Jayabalan did not care about the accident and told me the car was ‘scrap’ and was ‘worthless’.”

S Raveentharan appeared for Saroja. The trial continues today, with Jayabalan taking the stand.