The family of P Karuna Nithi will know on Feb 22 whether they succeed in their latest civil action against the police and government over his death in custody in 2013.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon postponed to that date the verdict, which was initially slated to be delivered via online proceedings today.
On Jan 28, 2015, the Seremban Coroner’s Court ruled that Karuna Nithi’s death was caused by injuries inflicted by beatings by the police as well as other detainees. Two years later, the Seremban High Court upheld the finding.
The family – the deceased’s widow R Kaliamah, 44, and her two sons, K Yugesh Varan, 22, and K Kisho Kumar, 20 - filed the present civil action at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January last year.
Through the said civil action, they are seeking several reliefs, among them being compensation over the authorities’ alleged contravention of the fundamental right to liberty enshrined under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
Previously in 2018 before the Seremban High Court, the family had mounted an earlier unsuccessful civil suit against the police and government over Karuna Nithi’s death in custody.
The Seremban High Court then had allowed a bid by the police and government to strike out the earlier civil action, on grounds that the earlier suit was filed out of time and should have been filed within three years of Karuna Nithi’s custodial death in 2013.
The police and government then had relied on Section 2(a) of the Public Authorities Protection Act 1948 (PAPA) over their contention of the time limit legal argument.
However, the family’s latest civil action before the Kuala Lumpur High Court also targets the constitutional validity of the said PAPA provision.
When contacted this afternoon, senior federal counsel Raja Zaizul Faridah Zaharudin, who acted for the respondents namely the police and government, confirmed that (Kuala Lumpur High Court) judicial commissioner John Lee Kien How @ Mohammad Johan Lee put off the decision date from today to Feb 22.
The SFC said that the court wanted parties in the matter to file further written submissions over the issue of the family’s cause of action (right to initiate legal action) under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
“Parties were directed to file the written submissions before or by Jan 20, 2022. The verdict would be on Feb 22, 2022,” Raja Zaizul Faridah said.
When contacted today, the family’s counsel T Manoharan, also confirmed that the Kuala Lumpur High Court postponed to Feb 22 its decision on the present legal action.
During the hearing of the originating summons on Nov 22 last year, it was reported that Raja Zaizul Faridah submitted that the suit should be dismissed as it should have been filed within three years of Karuna Nithi’s death in custody.
She contended that this requirement was laid out under Section 2(a) of PAPA.
The family’s counsel Gopal Sri Ram however had counter-submitted that Section 2(a) of PAPA is invalid as it contravenes Articles 8(1) and 69(2) of the Federal Constitution. In Malaysia, the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Article 8(1) enshrines the fundamental right of equality before the law and entitlement to equal protection of the law, while Article 69 (2) states that the Federation (federal government) may sue and be sued in respect of property, contracts and suits.
On May 28, 2013, Karuna Nithi was first remanded at Tampin district police station, following an alleged altercation with his wife and was further detained there when his family could not raise his bail after he was charged.
The engineer was found dead in a lock-up at the police station on Jun 1, 2013.
Police CCTV recordings from Karuna Nithi's lock-up showed him being assaulted by police and other detainees while in the cell. He was found with 49 injuries, mostly bruises, all over his body. - Mkini
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