COURT ORDERS PDRM TO COMPLETE INVESTIGATIONS INTO BENG HOCK'S DEATH WITHIN SIX MONTHS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- The High Court here has ordered the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) to complete investigations on the death of Teoh Beng Hock within six months from today.

Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh (now Court of Appeal judge) made the order after allowing the application for judicial review by Beng Hock's parents against the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), the Director of the PDRM Criminal Investigation Department, the PDRM, and the Malaysian government as the first to fourth respondents.

In the application filed on Jan 4, 2022, Beng Hock’s parents, Teoh Leong Hwee, 76, and Teng Shuw Hoi, 71, sought a declaration that the failure by the police and three others to complete the investigations into their son’s death within a reasonable time violated Section 20 (3) of the Police Act 1967.

On June 16, 2022, the High Court granted the couple leave to initiate the judicial review proceedings after dismissing the Attorney-General Chamber’s objection to the application.

The couple is also seeking a declaration that the police had committed negligence and attempted to deny the applicants’ constitutional rights under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, and are applying for a mandamus order for the first respondent (IGP) to complete the investigation into Beng Hock’s death within a month from the verdict’s delivery date.

In his decision, Justice Wan Ahmad Farid said the claims and reliefs sought by the applicants are within the domain of public law both in pith and substance. 

"Judicial review is, therefore, a proper mode of commencement under the circumstances," he said.

He added that the omission of the first, second, and third respondents in their failure to complete the investigation “without unnecessary delay” is in breach of Section 120(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code and therefore amenable to judicial review.

"The court finds that the investigation is not conducted with all convenient speed. 

“In the circumstances, I am making an order in the form of a mandamus to compel the first respondent to complete the investigation on the death of the deceased within six months from the date of the order to be made herein,” he said.

Citing the Court of Appeal case of Teoh Meng Kee, which found that the “interest of the family members and the public interest require the case be further investigated by the police authorities”, Justice Wan Ahmad Farid said it is incumbent for this court to follow that decision by ordering the investigation to be completed within the stipulated time.

"The interest of justice dictates that there has to be finality in this case. There has to be a closure for everything.

"The applicants, as the parents of the deceased, just like any other citizen of this country, deserve this justice. I hope that they get it today," he said.

In their application, the couple asserted that the investigation papers had been repeatedly sent back by the Attorney-General's Chambers to the first, second, and third respondents for further investigation. However, nearly 15 years after the incident, the investigation remains incomplete.

Beng Hock was found sprawled on the fifth-floor landing of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam on the morning of July 16, 2009, after providing a statement at the MACC office located on the 14th floor of the building. 

He was the political secretary to the then Selangor state executive councilor Ean Yong Hian Wah, and Seri Kembangan assemblyman.

On Jan 5, 2011, the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court ruled that Beng Hock’s death in 2009 was not due to suicide, murder, or third-party involvement, while the Royal Commission of Inquiry on July 21, 2011 established that he had committed suicide.

On Sept 5, 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the open verdict on Beng Hock’s death and ruled that it resulted from an unlawful act by a person or persons unknown.

-- BERNAMA