PUTRAJAYA, March 26 — The government and the police have applied to the Federal Court for leave to appeal against a lower court ruling that held them liable for the death of a gravedigger in police custody in 2019.
Lawyer M. Visvanathan, when contacted by Bernama, confirmed that the application was filed last month and served on his legal firm, which represents Fadhelah Othman, the victim’s mother.
He said case management has been fixed for March 30 at the Federal Court.
In the notice of motion, the government and the police are seeking to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision on Jan 26 this year, which upheld the High Court’s ruling that held them liable for the death of Mohd Fadzrin Zaidi.
In the application for leave to appeal, the government and the police have also proposed two questions of law for the apex court to consider.
Mohd Fadzrin was arrested by police during a drug raid on Nov 20, 2019, and remanded for seven days. He was held at the Seberang Perai Utara District Police Headquarters, where he was found hanging in his cell in the early hours of the following day.
In 2022, Fadhelah filed a civil suit at the Georgetown High Court against the police and the government over her son’s death.
In May 2024, the High Court ruled in her favour, finding that police had been negligent in failing to prevent her 29-year-old son’s suicide while in custody, and that the government was vicariously liable.
The court awarded Fadhelah RM147,600 in damages and RM50,000 in legal costs.
The Court of Appeal later dismissed the government and police’s appeal to set aside the High Court’s decision, but reduced the damages to RM97,600.
The three-man bench led by Justice Datuk Azizul Azmi Adnan, however, upheld RM57,600 for loss of dependency, RM30,000 for pain and suffering and RM10,000 in special damages, but set aside the RM50,000 in aggravated damages previously awarded by the High Court.
The Court of Appeal also dismissed a cross-appeal by Fadhelah seeking higher aggravated and dependency damages. — Bernama
