Appellate court sets Sept 15 for verdict in police-govt's appeal in MyWatch chairman's suit

PUTRAJAYA - The Court of Appeal has fixed Sept 15 to deliver its decision in the appeal brought by the police and government to overturn the High Court‘s decision declaring former Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch) chairman R. Sri Sanjeevan’s 16-day detention under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) as unlawful.

Sri Sanjeevan’s lawyer S. Preakas confirmed the decision date when contacted by Bernama.

The decision date was fixed following case management held before Court of Appeal senior assistant registrar Nur Adilah Halid on Wednesday.

On June 21, the appellate court's three-member bench Justices Datuk S. Nantha Balan, Datuk See Mee Chun and Datuk Azimah Omar heard the appeal and reserved their decision.

Sri Sanjevaan, 38, sued the investigating officer ASP Poonnam E Keling, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Government of Malaysia, claiming he was wrongly detained by Poonnam for 16 days from July 10 to 26, 2016, and that he was also assaulted.

The anti-crime activist also sought damages for losses and injuries suffered by him.

On June 28 last year, High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Bache allowed Sri Sanjeevan’s civil suit for false imprisonment and ordered general, exemplary and aggravated damages to be paid to him. He ordered damages to be assessed in a separate hearing at a later date.

The judge also granted a declaration that Sri Sanjeevan’s detention was unlawful and a declaration that his rights under Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution had been breached by Poonnam.

Justice Ahmad found Poonnam to be liable for unlawfully detaining Sri Sanjeevan and the IGP and the government were both vicariously liable for Poonnam’s actions.

Sri Sanjeevan was arrested under Poca for alleged involvement in criminal activities on July 10, 2016, and was produced before a magistrate the following day who issued a 21-day remand order.

Before the expiry of the 21-day remand period, Sri Sanjeevan filed a habeas corpus application to secure his release from detention. The High Court allowed his application on July 26, 2016, due to a breach of a mandatory procedure under Poca.

The government filed an appeal to the Federal Court but subsequently withdrew the appeal.

Sri Sanjeevan then filed a civil action against the police and government for false imprisonment. - BERNAMA