KUALA LUMPUR: The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and three others have filed to strike out a lawsuit by kindergarten teacher M. Indira Gandhi (pic) who sued them over her missing child.
Indira’s lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan said the defendants - the IGP, the Royal Malaysia Police, Home Ministry and government - filed the striking out application on Thursday (Jan 14).
The court was informed of the matter when it was brought up during case management via e-Review before High Court deputy registrar Idamasliza Maarof.
“The court had then ordered the plaintiff (Indira) to file her affidavit in reply by Jan 29 and for the first defendant (IGP) to file his by Feb 2, ” he said when contacted.
Senior Federal Counsel Safiyyah Omar appeared for the defendants during the online proceedings.
The case was fixed for further case management on Feb 19.
On Oct 28, last year, Indira, 45, sued the defendants over the authorities’ alleged failure to locate and return her 12-year-old missing child, Prasana Diksa, and is seeking RM100mil in damages.
In the statement of claim, Indira said the IGP had failed and refused to adhere to a committal order and a recovery order involving her missing child.
Both orders, she said, were obtained from the Ipoh High Court on May 30,2014.
The committal order stated that her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, 51, was to be committed to prison until Prasana was delivered to her while the recovery order stated for the court bailiff and the police to conduct a search, retrieve and return the child from Riduan to Indira.
Indira claimed the IGP failed to adhere to both orders on the basis that the latter was faced with two conflicting orders, namely an order by the Perak Syariah High Court that granted custody of their three children to Riduan and an order by the Ipoh High Court that granted custody to Indira.
She claimed the IGP had committed the tort of nonfeasance in public office by failing to enforce the orders.
Indira claimed the defendants’ conduct had directly or indirectly caused and extended the separation between her and her child and enabled Riduan to abscond.
She claimed to have suffered pain and anxiety as a result of constant worry over the safety and well-being of Prasana.
Indira and Riduan, or his birth name K. Patmanathan, were married on April 10,1993.
They have three children, P. Tevi Darsiny, now 23, P. Karan Dinish, 22, and Prasana.
On March 11,2009, Riduan converted to Islam and unilaterally converted the children to Islam.
On Sept 29,2009, he obtained a custody order of the children from the Syariah High Court in Perak.
It was reported that Prasana was taken away the same year.
Indira then filed an application in the civil High Court in Ipoh for custody and this was granted to her on March 11,2010.
The couple divorced in August 2012.
In January 2018, the Federal Court nullified the unilateral conversion of the children.
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