PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has upheld a decision by the High Court that granted a stay of execution on RM37mil in damages awarded to Pastor Raymond Koh and RM3mil to the wife of Amri Che Mat, both men who are missing till today.
A three-judge panel, chaired by Justice Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, made the decision on Wednesday (July 29) after dismissing appeals by Koh's wife Susanna Liew and Amri's wife Norhayati Ariffin against the stay order.
Other judges on the panel were Justices Dr Shahnaz Sulaiman and Amarjeet Singh.
In the unanimous decision here on Wednesday, Justice Alwi said the High Court judge had correctly applied the principles of law in governing the grant of a stay and found no reason to intervene.
"Appellate intervention is warranted only if the decision is shown to be plainly wrong. The High Court's decision represents a rational exercise of discretion to preserve the status quo pending the final determination of all the issues in the substantive appeal," he said.
The court was of the opinion that a stay merely suspends the enforcement of a court order to ensure that the appellate process was not rendered moot.
Justice Alwi also said the High Court's judgment in Koh's case involved a substantial and continuing daily payment of RM10,000 until he was found, adding that refusing a stay would require the immediate disbursement of public funds.
"Even with a trust mechanism, we agree with the respondents that the immediate execution of recurring payments from public funds is structurally impractical," he said.
"We must emphasise that, at this stage, the court is not concerned with the merits of the case but only with whether special circumstances exist. For these reasons, we dismiss the appeal and uphold the High Court's decision. No order as to costs," he said.
In Amri's case, Justice Alwi said since the investigation was still ongoing, the stay related specifically to the conditions governing how the investigation was to be conducted.
"We are of the view that if the stay is refused, the main appeal will be rendered nugatory. Overall, we find no reason to interfere with the learned High Court judge's exercise of discretion.
"In granting the stay, the order will not jeopardise the plaintiff's (Norhayati's) efforts to seek justice but will only temporarily delay the enforcement of the judgment pending the appellate process. Accordingly, we dismiss the appeal and affirm the High Court's decision," he said.
Lawyers Datuk Jerald Gomez and Steven Thiru represented Koh and Liew while lawyer A. Surendra Ananth represented Nurhayati.
Senior Federal Counsel Zetty Zurina Kamaruddin and Zureen Elina Mohd Dom appeared for government.
On Nov 5 last year, High Court judge Justice Su Tiang Joo ruled that the police and the government were liable for Koh’s disappearance and awarded RM31mil in damages and RM10,000 per day from Feb 13, 2017, until Koh’s whereabouts are disclosed.
The same judge also held the police and the government liable for Amri’s disappearance and awarded RM3mil in damages.
On Jan 8, the government filed stay applications pending the disposal of its appeal in the Court of Appeal.
Koh was reported to have been abducted by a group of masked men while driving in Kelana Jaya on Feb 13, 2017, while Amri was reported to have been abducted in Perlis around midnight on Nov 24, 2016, when his vehicle was surrounded by three cars and five men.
