Court proposes mediation in tahfiz fire suit

It also instructs the tahfiz centre to submit the bank statement for donations received since Sept 14, 2017, and the audit report, by Aug 21.

The Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz centre which caught fire last September.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has proposed that the family members of the victims of the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz centre fire and three former students who filed a suit against the tahfiz owner and four others settle the case via mediation.

Ahmad Zaharil Muhayar, who represented the centre’s owner Mohd Zahid Mahmood and his wife Samsurini Mohd Anuwi, told reporters this after a case management in the chambers of High Court judicial commissioner Darryl Goon Siew Chye yesterday.

Zaharil said the court recommended that the parties seek a solution to the case through mediation, and fixed Oct 1 for case management.

Mohaji Selamat, representing the 13 plaintiffs, said the court had also instructed the tahfiz centre to submit the bank statement for donations received since Sept 14 last year, along with the audit report, to his clients by Aug 21.

Also present at the proceedings was Fakhrul Azman Abu Hassan representing the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council as a defendant. The two teenagers who are on trial for murder were not represented.

In the 5.15am incident on Sept 14, 2017, 21 students and two teachers died after being trapped on the third floor of the religious residential school hostel which was on fire. - FMT