Jan 28 decision on AG's appeal against committal proceedings

The High Court here today fixed Jan 28 next year for a decision on the appeal by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas regarding the committal proceedings filed against him by the father of late firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim on July 16 this year.

Judge Meor Hashimi Abd Hamid fixed the date after hearing the arguments of parties related to the case.

This followed the decision by Coroner Rofiah Mohamad on Aug 27 to allow the committal proceedings to be heard in the Coroner’s Court here before the attorney-general filed an appeal in the High Court against the decision two days later.

In the appeal, Tommy appointed two private lawyers, Zainur Zakaria and S Ambiga, apart from senior federal counsels S Narkunavathy and Markiranjit Kaur, to represent him.

Ambiga, when met by reporters after today’s proceedings, said that, among other things, her side was questioning the delay by Muhammad Adib’s family in filing the committal application (contempt of court) against the attorney-general in relation to the inquest into the fireman’s death.

“The application for committal proceedings was filed in July while the (attorney-general’s) statement was made on May 23, 2019, which means it came two months later.

“For contempt of court proceedings, they filed it too late,” she said.

The lawyer representing Muhammad Adib’s family, Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, said his client was satisfied with the arguments he put forward today.

“We have made our arguments on the committal application and we are satisfied... we just have to wait for the decision,” he said.

On July 16 this year, Muhammad Adib’s father Mohd Kassim Abdul Hamid filed an application for a committal order against Tommy for allegedly committing contempt of court in relation to the inquest.

The ex-parte application was made through Messrs Mohd Zubir Embong & Associate at the Registrar’s Office of the Coroner’s Court.

Muhammad Adib, 24, a member of the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department, was seriously injured in a riot at Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, on Nov 27 last year and died on Dec 17 the same year at the National Heart Institute.

- Bernama