Carpet businessperson Deepak Jaikishian, who had last month missed two court sessions for his cross-examination by lawyers representing the family of the late P Balasubramaniam, missed the court proceeding for the third time today.
Deepak is said to be in New Delhi, India, allegedly attending to a liver and kidney problems at the Institute of Kidney and Biliary Sciences in the Indian capital.
However, Malaysian doctors who had diagnosed him at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur, claimed that he is asymptomatic and gave prognosis on his kidney and gall bladder.
Following this, counsel Gopal Sri Ram, who appeared for the the widow, A Santamil Selvi, and family of the late private investigator, urged the court to proceed to hear the family's application to strike out Deepak's second defence, filed on Nov 6 last year by the law firm of Shafee and Co, and also to remove Shafee from representing Deepak.
Sri Ram said there was no good reason for Deepak's absence despite the court having granted two previous adjournments and also because there is no Malaysian doctor brought to court today to tell the court of his ailments.
"His condition and absence are suspicious. His absence is a disrespect to court and it should not grant an adjournment. There is no letter of referral from a Malaysian doctor suggesting that he should seek treatment overseas. The court should not grant an adjournment.
"His absence today is without just cause," senior lawyer Sri Ram (photo), who was formerly a Federal Court judge, said.
Sri Ram said the court now has enough evidence to decide on its application to remove the second defence filed by Shafee when there is an earlier defence, submitted through the family’s previous lawyer Americk Sidhu.
The family filed this application to remove the second defence filed by Shafee. That was when Shafee had been discharged, and was then reappointed again by Deepak.
On March 19, the court granted an adjournment for Sri Ram to cross-examine Deepak due to his illness of excessive vomiting. He was given a medical certificate by Hospital UKM in Cheras, but the certificate does not have a stamp stating the doctor's name and practising number.
On the second date fixed by the court, on March 27, Deepak was hospitalised at a private hospital for excessive "bleeding from one end" and following that, the final date was fixed for today.
Shafee (photo below) told the court that he can only present what was given to him by his client and said his client had been unwell and that was the reason why he had sought treatment in India for what he feels is a persisting problem.
He also informed that the court should not hear the widow's application to discharge him from representing Deepak without his client's presence, or to strike out the defence that his firm filed for the businessman.
The senior lawyer also told the court that his client had also filed an application to recuse Justice Hue Siew Kheng from continuing to hear the case.
He said the application to recuse Justice Hue should be heard first, before herself or another judge, before the court could hear the application from Balasubramaniam's family.
Shafee also said that the court cannot rely on a defence filed on the internet and not directly to the court.
The family claimed that Deepak was forced to appoint Shafee under duress and that Deepak had given RM250,000 to the family's solicitor Americk Sidhu to be paid to the family.
The court had two months ago ordered Deepak to be cross-examined because of this and Deepak, on commenting on the decision, said he would finally be able to tell the truth.
As a result of this Justice Hue said she would deliver her decision on April 20 on whether to postpone the proceeding against Deepak and go ahead in hearing the family's application.
The widow and her three children filed a suit against caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor and seven others for tort to injury last August, following their exile to India for five years after Balasubramaniam made a statutory declaration in July 2008 over the issue of Altantuya Shaariibu's murder in October 2006, which Balasubramaniam retracted a day later. - Mkini
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