KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 26): The High Court here has granted the government’s application to stay the RM37 million cumulative payment awarded to the family of abducted pastor Raymond Koh, who disappeared nearly nine years ago.
High Court judge Mahazan Mat Taib allowed the government’s application to stay the payment until it has exhausted its appeal at the Court of Appeal.
She said that the government faces financial risk if the stay is not allowed.
“The refusal of a stay would expose the defendants (the government) to irreversible administrative and financial consequences, notwithstanding that the judgement is presently under appeal,” she said.
The judge also added that there was no prejudice against Koh and his wife, Susanna Liew Sow Yoke, 69, if a stay is granted.
"The damages are not payable to the first defendant (Koh) in any event.
"There is no suggestion of insolvency or dissipation on the part of the government,” Mahazan said.
As such, the court recognised, as a matter of practicality, that payments of this nature are extraordinary and administratively complex.
Senior federal counsel Nurul Farhana Khalid appeared for the government and the Royal Malaysian Police, while Datuk Jerald Gomez and Michelle Wong from Jerald Gomez and Associates represented Liew.
On Nov 5 last year, High Court judge Datuk Su Tiang Joo ruled in favour of Koh and Liew, holding the police and the government liable for Koh’s disappearance and ordering the payment of more than RM37 million in damages.
This judgement was immediately contested when the Attorney General’s Chambers filed a notice of appeal the following day.
Liew had filed the suit against the police and the government concerning her husband’s disappearance and the authorities’ handling of the investigation.
Koh was reported to have been abducted by a group of masked men while driving in Kelana Jaya on Feb 13, 2017.