This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 26, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: A suit filed in 2014 by the widow of a key witness in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial, for losses suffered following the family’s five-year exile, is unlikely to be heard any time soon in the High Court.

This is after carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan filed an appeal in the Federal Court to overturn the Court of Appeal ruling, which ordered a trial to determine the veracity of A Santamil Selvi’s claim.

Santamil’s counsel Americk Sidhu told The Malaysian Insider that prominent lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah would now be handling Deepak’s case.

“Shafee’s legal firm sent me a copy of the application for leave to appeal before the Federal Court,” Americk told The Malaysian Insider.

He said three legal questions have been suggested for leave to appeal the case.

Americk said case management was fixed on Feb 5, but he would write to the court registry to adjourn the matter as he would be overseas.

In the last hearing before the Court of Appeal, lawyer Wan Azmir Wan Majid from the legal firm Hafarizan Wan & Aisha Mubarak appeared for Deepak.

On Dec18 last year, a three-man Court of Appeal bench chaired by Vernon Ong Lam Kiat ruled that Santamil’s RM2 million suit could be filed in her personal capacity.

Santamil, widow of private investigator (PI) P Balasubramaniam, is suing Deepak over his role with seven others in sending her family into exile to India for five years from 2008.

Among the seven are Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Ong said the allegations of conspiracy in Santamil’s statement of claim had merit. — The Malaysian Insider