KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has dismissed a RM100mil lawsuit by kindergarten teacher M. Indira Gandhi against the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the government for allegedly failing to take action against her ex-husband, who abducted her daughter.
Judicial Commissioner Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan, in his judgment, said the police had used all available resources to locate Indira’s ex-husband, K. Pathmanathan, also known by his Muslim name Muhammad Riduan Abdullah.
He had taken their daughter, Prasana Diksa, 15 years ago without Indira’s consent.
The judge said in order for the plaintiff to succeed in the tort of nonfeasance, the plaintiff must demonstrate the existence of malice or bad faith. Nonfeasance is a term used in tort law to describe inaction that allows or results in harm to a person or to property.
He said the evidence pointed to the police making all efforts to locate the man and was not indicative of any neglect of their duties.
“It is impossible for me to conclude that the IGP and the police did not attempt to locate Pathmanathan.
“This is certainly not a scenario in which Pathmanathan was roaming around Kuala Lumpur or any other area in the presence of the police, without the police taking any action despite noticing his appearance,” he said yesterday.
If that was the case, Justice Raja Ahmad said the court would have favoured the plaintiff.
“However, the facts before me indicate that Pathmanathan’s whereabouts were unknown. Evidence further suggests that he was in Thailand at some point in time,” he said.
The judge also said that, based on evidence available to the court, the IGP and the police had exercised their duties in the manner they considered to be most appropriate.
He said there was evidence that an investigation has been conducted and is still in progress.
In the suit filed on Oct 28, 2020, Indira Gandhi, 47, claimed that the IGP had deliberately and negligently disregarded a mandamus order issued by the Federal Court in failing to investigate or take appropriate action to return her daughter, Prasana Diksa, who is now a teenager, to her.
Indira Gandhi claimed all the defendants had a role to play in making decisions or ordering the police to execute the committal warrant against Muhammad Riduan as ordered by the Federal Court on April 29, 2016.
She contended that the behaviour of the defendants had directly caused her separation from her youngest daughter until today.
In 2009, Muhammad Riduan unilaterally converted his three children to Islam without his ex-wife’s consent before going to the Syariah Court to obtain custody of the children.
In 2016, the Federal Court affirmed the mandamus order issued by the High Court directing the police and the appellants to apprehend Muhammad Riduan and retrieve Prasana Diksa.
In 2018, the apex court ruled that the unilateral conversion of the three children was null and void. The Ipoh High Court in 2010 granted full custody of the children to Indira Gandhi.
Prasana Diksa was 11 months old when Muhammad Riduan took her away.
