Tuesday, June 06, 2023

Judge recuses himself from Teoh Beng Hock judicial review filing


FMT:

Judge recuses himself from Teoh Beng Hock judicial review filing


Justice Amarjeet Singh is understood to have been involved in the 2011 Royal Commission of Inquiry into the political aide’s death.



Teoh Beng Hock’s parents are seeking a judicial review to compel the police to admit negligence in the initial probe and conduct a proper investigation into his death. (Facebook pic)


KUALA LUMPUR: Justice Amarjeet Singh, a former senior federal counsel, has recused himself from hearing a judicial review filing brought by the family of Teoh Beng Hock against the police over his death in 2009.

Amarjeet said he had received a letter dated May 15 from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) indicating a conflict.

“I was quite involved in this matter. I have decided to recuse myself,” he said during case management.

Senior federal counsel Ahmad Hanir Hambaly appeared for the AGC, while lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo represented Beng Hock’s family. FMT understands that Amarjeet was one of the conducting officers in the 2011 Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into Beng Hock’s death.

Hanir said Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh will take over from Amarjeet. Case management has been fixed for July 10.

The High Court had on June 16 last year granted the family leave to file for judicial review, six months after the application was filed.

Beng Hock’s father, Teoh Leong Hwee, 75, and mother, Teng Shuw Hoi, 70, are seeking a court order to compel the inspector-general of police (IGP) to carry out a complete investigation into their son’s death.

The government, the IGP and the Bukit Aman criminal investigation department (CID) director were named as respondents in the application.

The couple is also seeking several declarations, including one that states the police were negligent in their duty to complete the probe within a reasonable time.

Teng, in her affidavit, said the police had failed to investigate Beng Hock’s death despite the Court of Appeal ruling in the family’s favour in 2014.

She said the police had formed three separate task forces – in 2011, 2014 and 2018 – supposedly to investigate the death and last provided information in 2021.

In 2014, a three-member Court of Appeal bench ruled that Beng Hock’s death was caused by the act of “a person or persons unknown”, including MACC officers who had questioned him overnight before he was found dead.

The High Court had also recorded an out-of-court settlement, in which the family was awarded RM600,000 in damages for negligence.

Beng Hock, the then political aide to Selangor executive councillor and DAP’s Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong, was found dead on the fifth-floor service corridor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009.

He had been held there overnight and questioned by MACC, which had its Selangor headquarters on the 14th floor of the building.

An RCI in 2011 determined that Beng Hock had been driven to suicide by MACC’s aggressive questioning.


1 comment:

  1. Honestly, with the MACC head given an extension of his tenure, I doubt if this Madani government will give justice to TBH's family.

    Anwar has proven to be a real disappointment.

    ReplyDelete