Court of Appeal overturns retiree’s RM1.43 million award

PUTRAJAYA, Apr 28: A retiree lost a RM1.43 million award after the police and the government succeeded in setting aside a High Court decision in his favour for wrongful arrest and torture in 1998, at the Court of Appeal here today.    

A three-member panel led by judge Datuk Aziah Ali held that the High Court had erred in its findings when it ruled that Dickson Ng Sek Wah was unlawfully detained.

The panel, which also comprised judges Datuk Lim Yee Lan and Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim unanimously allowed the appeal to set aside the Nov 9, 2010 decision of the High Court in Shah Alam.

Justice Aziah also ordered Ng to pay RM1,000 in legal costs to the police and government.

Ng, 63, who represented himself, asked the judge to explain the court’s decision in layman’s term, which Justice Aziah complied.

She also told Ng to inquire as to whether he could appeal against the decision, from the lawyers present in court for other cases.

Ng had sued eight police officers, including the inspector-general of police and the government in 2000, claiming he was seriously injured during the period of detention.

He was allegedly detained for questioning over importing a submachine gun from Finland without a valid licence.

Ng, who was then with a forwarding company, claimed that he had only assisted another company in the import of the weapon as a sample to participate in an open tender called by the Home Ministry, on behalf of the police.

In November 2010, the Shah Alam High Court allowed his claim and awarded him RM1.43 million.

Senior Federal Counsel Azizan Md Arshad had earlier submitted that High Court judge Hinshawati Shariff was erroneous in her findings that Ng was unlawfully detained.

He said there was a Magistrates Court remand order issued in 1997 against Ng and the order was valid since it was not challenged or set aside by the court.

Azizan said the High Court judge had also erred when she awarded damages solely on the basis of a 2010 High Court decision in the case of former ISA detainee Abdul Malek Husin vs Borhan Daud, because that decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal.

Ng said he would bring the matter up to the Federal Court. - BERNAMA