KUALA LUMPUR – The 49-year-old single mother, M. Indira Gandhi, is scheduled to take the stand in her RM100 million suit against former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Hamid Bador and three others today.
According to the court’s schedule system, Indira is expected to testify before judge Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan at the high court here at 9am.
Indira filed the suit on October 28, 2020, naming Hamid, police, the Home Ministry and the government as the defendants, respectively.
Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan confirmed that he would be representing Indira in the suit, while previous news reports have stated that the defendants are represented by senior federal counsel Andi Razalijaya A. Dadi.
In the suit, Indira claimed that Hamid, during his tenure as IGP, and the remaining defendants had committed the tort of nonfeasance (intentionally neglecting to carry out their duty) in public office.
Her ex-husband, who goes by the name Muhammad Riduan after his conversion to Islam, had been alleged to have abducted her youngest daughter when she was only 11-months-old in 2009.
In her statement of claim, Indira detailed how the defendants had committed negligence and misconduct when they failed to take the necessary steps to apprehend her ex-husband.
She also stated her suffering of anxiety from constantly worrying over her daughter’s safety and well-being and is seeking RM100 million in general, exemplary and aggravated damages against all the defendants.
Indira also claimed that the defendants deliberately and negligently disregarded the Federal Court’s mandamus order that was issued in 2016, which directed the defendants to apprehend her ex-husband and retrieve her daughter to be returned to her.
A mandamus order is a court’s order that compels government officials to properly fulfil their duties or correct an abuse of discretion.
In 2021, the defendants filed to strike out the suit by Indira. However, the high court on July 16 of the same year dismissed the defendants’ application and ordered for the suit to go to trial.
The high court, in dismissing the application, ordered the defendants to pay RM10,000 in costs to Indira.
In September 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld the high court’s decision, where the appellate court justices ordered the defendants to pay an additional RM4,000 in costs to Indira.
The defendants lost their bid to postpone paying a total of RM14,000 to Indira on December 4 of last year.
In 2009, Indira’s ex-husband unilaterally converted her three children to Islam without her consent. However, the Federal Court overturned the conversion in 2018 and ruled it null and void because the consent of both parents of a civil marriage must be obtained before converting a child. – February 5, 2024