Najib, Rosmah decline to be third parties in PI Bala widow's suit

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor and six others have objected to being added as third parties to a civil suit brought by A Santamil Selvi, the widow of the late private investigator P Balasubramaniam, and her three children over their exile to India in relation to the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Carpet trader Deepak Jaikishan, who is currently the only defendant in the suit, had been permitted in October last year to file third-party claims against Najib and his affiliates.

Following the objection, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today set March 29 to hear the application for leave to include Najib and his affiliates as third parties in the ongoing lawsuit.

When met at court, Deepak's lawyer Vinod Kamalanathan said Najib and his affiliates opposed his client's application on the grounds that they had been parties to the same suit before.

"They were trying to say they were already parties (as defendants) before this and the case was struck off.

“But I told the court whatever had been argued before was the plaintiff's claim against them, whereas this is an indemnity issue (brought) by the defendant," he said.

"It is an interesting point of law which we will argue," he added.

Vinod was recounting what had taken place during case management in chambers today before Justice Azimah Omar.

The lawyer believes that by including all parties, the main lawsuit would run more smoothly as these parties could immediately testify on issues that arose.

Third-party notices

In August 2017, Balasubramaniam's widow Santamil Selvi and her children sued Najib and his affiliates for allegedly causing them intentional harm as a result of their exile to India in 2008.

Beside Najib and Rosmah, Najib's siblings Ahmad Johari and Nazim, lawyers Cecil Abraham, Sunil Abraham, and M Arulampalam, commissioner of oaths Zainal Abidin Muhayat, and Deepak had initially been named as defendants.

However, a Court of Appeal ruling last year removed Najib and his affiliates as defendants in the claim. This left Deepak as the only defendant in the lawsuit.

Following this, Deepak applied for the court to issue third-party notices against Najib and his affiliates so that they would share the damages and liabilities in case the court ruled in favour of Balasubramaniam's widow.

In today's proceeding, Vinod mentioned on behalf of lawyer Americk Sidhu for Santamil Selvi.

Santamil is also appealing the Court of Appeal decision to remove the former prime minister and his affiliates as defendants in the claim. The Federal Court has fixed Feb 26, 2019, to hear the appeal.

Balasubramaniam died in March 2013 of a heart attack after returning to Malaysia from India.

Santamil and her children filed their first suit in 2014 against Najib, Rosmah and the seven others for allegedly committing a conspiracy that forced their family to be exiled in India for five years.

The first suit was never heard on its merits as it was struck out on the grounds of locus standi (legal standing) and the family had since exhausted the appeals process.

Santamil and her family then filed the second suit, the current one, on Aug 1, 2017, claiming injury and loss of income. - Mkini