The Petaling Jaya High Court today dismissed MACC's application for a revision of the coroner's ruling to allow T Sivanesan, a victim of MACC torture, as a witness in the Teoh Beng Hock inquest.

"There is nothing illegal, incorrect and improper about the coroner's ruling to allow the 20th witness to testify," ruled judicial commissioner Yeoh Wee Siam.

NONE Yeoh also rejected an application by lawyer Manoj Kurup for MACC, for a stay of execution pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal.

"The application for a stay of the inquest proceedings is not granted and I order that the inquest proceed," she ruled.

The Teoh inquest will continue tomorrow at 9am.

Earlier, Yeoh had advised lawyers from both parties to keep their arguments short.

"I have sufficient knowledge on the case, having read all the inquest proceeding records and the MACC application. As such, all parties should keep their arguments brief so that I can make a decision today itself," said Yeoh.

'Testimony aimed to smear MACC's image'

Manoj argued that the coroner had erred in allowing Sivanesan's ( right ) testimony and police report, as it was not consistent with the fact-finding mission of the coroner into the death of Teoh Beng Hock.

"The purpose of his testmony is to smear and tarnish the image of MACC," said Manoj.

Hence, he urged the court to exercise its revision powers and issue an order to expunge Sivanesan's testimony and the relevant documents.

"The police report and the witness's (Sivanesan's) testimony are unverified allegations; the matter (the alleged abuse and torture) is also still under police investigation.

"Sivanesan's testimony, whether it is true or not, relates to a totally different case, where he was a suspect. This case has nothing to do with our ongoing inquest and there was no evidence of pre-fall injuries sustained by the deceased in the inquest," Manoj submitted.

Yesterday, Sivanesan's testimony at the inquest was delayed for three hours following disagreements amongst counsels about his appearance and claims of torture by MACC.

Coroner Azmil subsequently decided that the police report lodged by Sivanesan dated Sept 11, last year, alleging that he was abused and tortured by group of MACC officers, was relevant to assist the inquest in determining Teoh's cause of death.

Azmil had also allowed Sivanesan to testify at the inquest, and

accepted the police report together with a set of photographs of alleged injuries tendered in court.

Following that, the MACC, through its counsel Abdul Razak Musa, rushed to file its letter of application to the High Court to review the coroner's decision.

The application was filed at 12.30pm at the High Court registrar yesterday.

These officers have lied before

Earlier, counsel Karpal Singh and Gobind Singh, appearing for Teoh's family, had objected to the MACC revision application on the ground that it was not made formally to the court, but the objection was dismissed.

NONE Gobind Singh argued that the police report and the witness's evidence were important to assist the coroner in making his decision on the cause of Teoh's death.

"The contents of the report relate to the same place and same floor and involve the same officer (Mohd Ashraf Mohd Yunus who had testified in the inquest).

"We have the evidence to show that Teoh was assaulted by these officers and that they had lied in their testimony before. Why can't we be given an opportunity to bring forward our witness to show that assault had been used, is used and will continue to be used in the MACC office?" he said.

"Let the coroner conduct the inquest in his own way. He just wants evidence that can help him later and there is nothing wrong with that," stressed Gobind Singh, and urged the court to dismiss the application.

Counsel Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, for the Selangor government, submitted that the High Court should not interfere with the parties' right to introduce evidence at the inquest.

He also said that forensic pathologist Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim, in his testimony at the inquest, had confirmed that there was a possibility of pre-fall injuries to Teoh's head, face and anal area.

Teoh, 30, a political aide to Selangor state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16 on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam here after having given a statement as a witness to the MACC over allegations of misuse of funds by Selangor state executive councillors.

Police at Sivanesan's house

In a later development, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang twittered at about 9.30pm that the police had gone to Sivanesan's house in Jenjarom to take him to the Jenjarom police station.

Lim said that Gobind had informed him about the policemen's presence at Sivanesan's house.

"Gobind phoned. In Jenjarom with Siva, who was asked to report to Jenjarom police station before 11pm," said Lim in his twitter entry.

He then added that when Gobind and Sivanesan went to the police station, no one seemed to know anything about the matter. Lim said the duo had then left the police station.

Gobind is expected to raise this issue of police harassment at the inquest tomorrow.

[With additional report from Bernama]