The Ipoh High Court today ordered the police to submit an affidavit detailing their efforts to arrest M Indira Gandhi’s fugitive ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah and recover her youngest daughter Prasana Diksa.
Judicial Commissioner Bhupindar Singh gave the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC), which represented the police, three weeks to file the affidavit.
This involved a backlog of 79 affidavits that were supposed to have been filed since 2014, according to a court order given on May 30, 2014, said Indira Gandhi's lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan.
He told reporters after the hearing that the 2014 High Court order stated that the police have a duty to inform the court and Indira once a month until the child is found.
"This order is dated May 2014 and it is now December 2020. That means 79 affidavits have not been filed by the police.
"The police owe Indira 79 affidavits to show what efforts have been taken to capture her ex-husband, formerly known as K Patmanathan, and to recover Prasanna," he added.
After the court was informed, Rajesh said the judge directed the AG's Chambers to file an exhaustive affidavit detailing all the efforts from May 30, 2014 until today.
Expressing her disappointment with the police, Indira said: "This is the failure of the police which we have been voicing out for many years - that they are not doing their duty."
Rajesh said the next court date is on Jan 26 when the judge would review the affidavit and issue further directions.
Back in January, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador revealed that he knew the whereabouts of Riduan and urged him to surrender.
This was despite an arrest warrant from the Federal Court for Riduan, who had absconded with Prasana.
On Oct 28, Indira filed legal action against the IGP (who was not named in the suit), the Royal Malaysian Police, the Home Affairs Ministry and the government of Malaysia.
She is suing over the police's purported refusal to locate her ex-husband and recover her daughter.
Prasana was an infant when her father took her away in 2009 after converting to Islam.
Riduan and Indira were later engaged in an interfaith custody battle after he unilaterally converted Prasana and their two other children to Islam.
In 2014, the Ipoh High Court 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. - Mkini
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