Coroner’s Court has power to hear contempt proceeding against Thomas

 

The Shah Alam Coroner’s Court has jurisdiction to grant leave to institute contempt proceeding against former attorney-general Tommy Thomas in relation to the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, the Court of Appeal ruled.

The three-member Court of Appeal bench presided by Suraya Othman this morning unanimously dismissed the appeal by Thomas, who is now in private practice. 

The other bench members were Abu Bakar Jais and Hashim Hamzah, who previously heard the appeal linked to Adib’s death following the Subang temple riots in late 2018.

Thomas (above) is appealing against a Shah Alam High Court ruling on Jan 28, 2020, which ruled that the lower court (Coroner’s Court) has the power to grant leave to the deceased’s father, Mohd Kassim Abdul Hamid, to institute committal proceedings against the then AG. 

Today’s decision has bearing on another related appeal by Adib’s father who is seeking to commence contempt proceedings against Thomas over an affidavit linked to the 24-year-old firefighter’s cause of death.

Kassim, 68, was initially granted leave by the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court to commence committal proceedings against Thomas over a 2019 affidavit by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), that allegedly stated that Adib’s death was not caused by injuries inflicted by people. 

However, the Shah Alam High Court on Jan 28, 2020, also quashed the leave to commence committal proceedings on technical reasons, namely that Kassim failed to comply with Order 52 of the High Court's Rules in relation to non-disclosure of material facts.

His appeal is still pending before the Court of Appeal. Today's ruling on the Coroner Court's jurisdiction to hear contempt proceedings against Thomas may have a major bearing on Kassim's appeal. 

On Dec 17, 2018, while being warded at the National Heart Institute (IJN), Adib died from injuries sustained from the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple riots the month before. 

In Sept 2019, the Shah Alam Coroner's Court ruled that the 24-year-old firefighter's death was caused by a criminal act perpetrated by two people or more. 

[More to follow] - Mkini