PUTRAJAYA, June 14 — The Federal Court has fixed July 3 to hear former anti-crime activist R.Sri Sanjeevan’s appeal against the dismissal of a ruling in declaring his 16-day detention under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA) as unlawful.
Sri Sanjeevan’s counsel S.Preakas, when contacted by Bernama, confirmed the hearing date following a case management conducted today before Federal Court senior assistant registrar Nurul Azuin Mohd Talhah.
On February 20, the Federal Court three-man bench, in a majority decision, granted leave to Sri Sanjeevan to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss his suit.
Sri Sanjeevan, 39, sued investigating officer ASP Poonnam E Keling, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Government of Malaysia, claiming he was wrongly detained by Poonnam for 16 days between July 10, 2016 and 26 July 2016.
The former chairman of the Malaysian Crime Watch Task Force (MyWatch) claims that he was also assaulted and is seeking damages for losses and injuries suffered by him.
On June 28, 2022, the High Court allowed Sri Sanjeevan’s suit for false imprisonment and ordered damages to be paid to him.
The High Court judge Datuk Ahmad Bache ordered damages to be assessed in a separate hearing at a later date.
The Court of Appeal, however, overturned that High Court decision after allowing the appeals by the police and the government in September last year.
Sri Sanjeevan was arrested for alleged involvement in criminal activities on July 10, 2016 under POCA and was produced before a magistrate the following day who issued a 21-day remand order.
Before the expiry of the 21-day remand period, Sri Sanjeevan filed a habeas corpus application to secure his release from detention, which was granted by the High Court on July 26, 2016, due to a breach of a mandatory procedure under POCA.
The government appealed to the Federal Court but subsequently withdrew the appeal.
Sri Sanjeevan then filed the civil action against the police and government for false imprisonment. — Bernama
