PUTRAJAYA: The appeal by the police and government against the High Court’s decision to declare former Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch) chairman R. Sri Sanjeevan as being unlawfully detained under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca) will be decided on Sept 15.
The Court of Appeal has fixed the date, according to Sri Sanjeevan’s lawyer S. Preakas when contacted by Bernama.
The date was fixed following case management held before Court of Appeal senior assistant registrar Nur Adilah Halid on Wednesday.
On June 21, appellate judges Justices S. Nantha Balan, See Mee Chun and 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, claiming he was wrongly detained by ASP 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 Justice 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 ASP Poonnam.
Justice Ahmad found ASP Poonnam to be liable for unlawfully detaining Sri Sanjeevan and the IGP and the government were both vicariously liable for the police officer’s actions.
Sri Sanjeevan was arrested under Poca for alleged involvement in criminal activities on July 10, 2016, and was produced in front of a magistrate the following day where a 21-day remand order was granted.
Before the expiry of the 21-day remand period, Sri Sanjeevan filed for a writ of habeas corpus 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.
Sri Sanjeevan then filed a civil action against the police and government for false imprisonment.
