KUALA LUMPUR: The family of Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was murdered in 2006, has filed an application for leave to appeal at the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal’s decision in their civil suit.
The family’s lawyer Sangeet Kaur Deo said several questions of law from the civil proceedings would be raised, including questions relating to the scope of vicarious liability of the government, where acts of state agents result in the unlawful deprivation of life and the statutory framework governing damages in civil claims arising from unlawful killing.
“In light of the public importance of these issues, it is appropriate that they now be considered by the Federal Court, which will have the opportunity to clarify the law in this important area,” Sangeet said in a statement yesterday.
The case has been fixed for management before Deputy Registrar Wan Norazmin Kassim on March 19.
On Jan 20, the Court of Appeal reduced the quantum of damages awarded to the Mongolian family from RM5mil to RM1.4mil in the lawsuit against political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, two policemen and the government.
A three-judge panel, chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Hashim Hamzah, said the total of RM5mil was awarded primarily on a vindicatory basis, rather than on a proper calculation of loss of dependency.
The amount was set aside and replaced with RM1.4mil.
The new sum included RM1mil for aggravated damages and RM384,000 in dependency claim, to be paid by Abdul Razak and Special Actions Unit officers C/Insp Azilah Hadri and Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar to Altantuya’s family.
The court also awarded RM10,000 in bereavement expenses and RM15,000 in funeral expenses to the family.
The Court of Appeal also held that the government was not vicariously liable for Altantuya’s death, as the acts of the two former police officers, Sirul Azhar and Azilah, were committed outside the scope of their duty.
