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Woman stopped from leaving country may sue govt, court rules
3 hours ago
V Anbalagan
Housewife S Sumathi, the victim of mistaken identity, saw her suit reinstated by the Court of Appeal on her final appeal
The Court of Appeal reinstated S Sumathi’s suit against the director-general of immigration and the government after she was wrongly prevented from leaving the country for an overseas vacation in 2023.
PUTRAJAYA: A housewife, wrongly classified as a bankrupt and prevented from going on a family holiday overseas, may proceed with her negligence suit against the government.
A three-member Court of Appeal bench today unanimously reinstated S Sumathi’s lawsuit, ruling she had correctly named the director-general of immigration as a defendant.
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who led the panel, said the suit was not an “obvious and unsustainable case” to warrant being struck out.
“The plaintiff (Sumathi) has rightly named the director-general as a public officer as required under the Government Proceedings Act and the Interpretations Act,” the judge said.
The appeals court, also comprising Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Nadzrin Wok Nordin, awarded Sumathi RM15,000 in costs.
The sessions court had on Aug 21, 2023 dismissed Sumathi’s suit on the basis that it had failed to name the immigration officer who stopped her at the departure gate as a defendant.
Sumathi also failed in her appeal to the High Court on March 3 last year, giving rise to the present appeal.
On Sept 25, 2022, the plaintiff and 16 members of her family were at KLIA Terminal 1 at 7.35am to board a flight to New Delhi for a vacation.
Except for Sumathi, all members of the entourage successfully used the automated immigration gate.
A check conducted by an unidentified officer on the department’s computer system showed that she was a bankrupt and had been blacklisted from leaving the country.
Sumathi was subsequently cleared by the insolvency department for travel after her case was confirmed to be one of mistaken identity.
The department had intended to blacklist another person with the same name — Sumathi Subramaniam, birth date and year, but whose MyKad number’s last six digits were different.
Sumathi managed to join up with the rest of her family members in India two days later.
She filed the suit the following year seeking RM312,430 in damages, naming the director-general and the government as defendants, citing vicarious liability.
Lawyers M Manoharan and M Hariharan appeared for Sumathi while senior federal counsel Siti Syakimah Ibrahim represented the government.
A three-member Court of Appeal bench today unanimously reinstated S Sumathi’s lawsuit, ruling she had correctly named the director-general of immigration as a defendant.
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who led the panel, said the suit was not an “obvious and unsustainable case” to warrant being struck out.
“The plaintiff (Sumathi) has rightly named the director-general as a public officer as required under the Government Proceedings Act and the Interpretations Act,” the judge said.
The appeals court, also comprising Justices Faizah Jamaludin and Nadzrin Wok Nordin, awarded Sumathi RM15,000 in costs.
The sessions court had on Aug 21, 2023 dismissed Sumathi’s suit on the basis that it had failed to name the immigration officer who stopped her at the departure gate as a defendant.
Sumathi also failed in her appeal to the High Court on March 3 last year, giving rise to the present appeal.
On Sept 25, 2022, the plaintiff and 16 members of her family were at KLIA Terminal 1 at 7.35am to board a flight to New Delhi for a vacation.
Except for Sumathi, all members of the entourage successfully used the automated immigration gate.
A check conducted by an unidentified officer on the department’s computer system showed that she was a bankrupt and had been blacklisted from leaving the country.
Sumathi was subsequently cleared by the insolvency department for travel after her case was confirmed to be one of mistaken identity.
The department had intended to blacklist another person with the same name — Sumathi Subramaniam, birth date and year, but whose MyKad number’s last six digits were different.
Sumathi managed to join up with the rest of her family members in India two days later.
She filed the suit the following year seeking RM312,430 in damages, naming the director-general and the government as defendants, citing vicarious liability.
Lawyers M Manoharan and M Hariharan appeared for Sumathi while senior federal counsel Siti Syakimah Ibrahim represented the government.
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