PUTRAJAYA, April 15 — Save Seafield Mariamman Temple Task Force today withdrew its appeal at the Court of Appeal against the Coroner’s Court’s dismissal of its application to hold a watching brief at the inquest of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim who died from injuries sustained during a riot at the temple in November last year.

The temple task force also withdrew its bid for a stay of the inquest pending disposal of its appeal.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) withdrew its application to strike out the temple task force’s appeal.

Lawyer M. Visvanathan, representing the task force,  said he informed the court that his client was withdrawing their applications based on the affidavit filed by the AGC on April 3 this year.

He said the affidavit affirmed by deputy public prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah stated that Adib’s death was not due to beatings by any person.

Visvanathan said the affidavit also stated that the forensic pathologist had testified in the inquest proceeding that the injuries sustained by Muhammad Adib, which led to his death, was not injuries due to beating.

"My client is satisified with the content in paragraph 5 and 6 in the affidavit affirmed by deputy public prosecutor Hamdan Hamzah and we confirmed this by our affidavit filed on April 12,” Visvanathan told Bernama.

Hamdan, who appeared together with deputy public prosecutor Datuk Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar, did not object to the withdrawal. 

A three-member panel of the Court of Appeal, comprising Justices Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid, Datuk Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal and Datuk Steven Chung Hian Guan ,subsequently struck out the appeal and applications.

The temple task force filed a judicial review application seeking to have its lawyer to hold a watching brief in the inquest claiming that it (temple task force) was an "interested party” in the inquest. 

On Jan 31 this year, Coroner Rofiah Mohamad rejected the temple task force’s application on grounds that it had no clear, substantive and reasonable interests.

The task force also lost its appeal at the High Court, which dismissed it on Feb 8, this year.

Muhammad Adib, 24, who was a member of the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Station Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS), was seriously injured during a riot in the vicinity of the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, on Nov 27 last year. He died at the National Heart Institute on Dec 17.

The inquest is scheduled to resume tomorrow. — Bernama