The Kuala Lumpur High Court has directed the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and three others to file their Statement of Defence against a lawsuit by kindergarten teacher M Indira Gandhi.
The court issued the direction during e-review (online) case management of the legal action this morning.
On Oct 28, Indira filed the legal action against the IGP (who is not named in the suit), the Royal Malaysian Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the government of Malaysia.
She is suing over the police’s purported refusal to locate her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah and recover her daughter Prasana Diksa.
Indira has been fighting to regain custody of Prasana, who had been allegedly taken by Riduan.
Indira’s counsel Rajesh Nagarajan today confirmed the outcome of this morning’s case management of the suit.
“The court provided the following directions, (among them for) the defendants to file Statement of Defence on or before Dec 2, 2020.
“The plaintiff to file Reply to the Statement of Defence on or before Dec 16, 2020.
“The next case management via e-review fixed on Dec 30, 2020,” he told Malaysiakini.
Rajesh added that the court also directed parties to file any interlocutory applications before the next case management, among others.
It was reported that copies of Indira's suit have been served on the four defendants in early November.
Back in January, the IGP revealed he knew the whereabouts of Indira’s former husband Riduan and urged him to surrender himself.
This was despite an arrest warrant from the Federal Court for Riduan, who had absconded with Prasana.
Prasana was an infant when her father Riduan, previously named K Pathmanathan, took her away in 2009 after converting to Islam.
Riduan and Indira were later engaged in a tightly-watched interfaith custody battle after he unilaterally converted Prasana and their two other children to Islam.
In 2014, the High Court in Ipoh ordered the police to retrieve Prasana from her father. In 2016, the Federal Court ordered the IGP to arrest Riduan.
In 2018, the Federal Court unanimously ruled that unilateral conversions of children were unlawful as such decisions needed permission from both parents.
The court also issued an arrest warrant for Riduan.
According to a copy of Indira's lawsuit, the IGP allegedly failed to abide by two orders of the Ipoh High Court issued on May 30, 2014.
The first was a committal order for Riduan to be jailed for failing to return Prasana to Indira.
The second was a recovery order for the Royal Malaysian Police and court bailiff to retrieve Prasana from Riduan and return her to Indira.
Indira claimed that the IGP has committed a tort of nonfeasance in public office by failing to arrest Riduan and recover Prasana.
The plaintiff is seeking declarations that the IGP has committed a tort of nonfeasance in public office and that the other three defendants are vicariously liable for the first defendant’s (IGP) tort of nonfeasance.
Indira also seeks general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, interest, costs, and any other order deemed fit by the court. - Mkini
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