The Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the government and the police to pay RM14,000 in legal costs to M Indira Gandhi over their failed bid to nullify her lawsuit to recover her daughter Prasana Diksa.
Judge Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah today dismissed a bid by the government and the police as well as two others - the inspector-general of police (IGP) and the Home Ministry - to stay the need for them to pay the costs to the kindergarten teacher.
Indira’s counsel Rajesh Nagarajan confirmed the outcome, following the High Court and Court of Appeal on two separate dates - July 16, 2021 and Sept 7 last year - denying the striking out bid.
“The High Court judge (Ahmad) had dismissed the said (stay) application with costs of RM2,000 due to a lack of merit and the fact that there were no special circumstances adduced by the defendants to satisfy the law,” Rajesh said.
Previously, the authorities contended that the lawsuit was scandalous, frivolous, vexatious, or an abuse of the court process.
Indira’s suit
On Oct 28, 2020, Indira (above) filed the suit over the police’s alleged failure to track down her Muslim ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, arrest him, and recover Prasana from him.
Prasana was an infant when her father Riduan, previously named K Pathmanathan, reportedly took her away in 2009 after converting to Islam.
Riduan and Indira were later engaged in a tightly-watched interfaith custody battle after he unilaterally converted Prasana and their two other children to Islam.
In 2014, the Ipoh High Court ordered the police to retrieve Prasana from her father. In 2016, the Federal Court ordered the IGP to arrest Riduan.
In 2018, the Federal Court unanimously ruled that unilateral conversions of children were unlawful as such decisions need permission from both parents. The apex court also issued an arrest warrant for Riduan.
According to Indira’s lawsuit, the IGP allegedly failed to abide by two orders of the High Court in Ipoh which were issued on May 30, 2014.
The first order was a committal order for Riduan to be jailed for failing to return Prasana to Indira. The second one was a recovery order for the Royal Malaysian Police and the court bailiff to retrieve Prasana from Riduan and return the child to Indira.
Indira claimed the IGP committed a tort of nonfeasance in public office by failing to arrest Riduan and recover Prasana.
The plaintiff is seeking declarations that the IGP has committed a tort of nonfeasance in public office and that the other three defendants are vicariously liable for the first defendant’s (IGP’s) tort of nonfeasance.
Indira is also seeking general, aggravated, and exemplary damages, interest, costs, and any other order deemed fit by the court. - Mkini
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