Coroner Azmil Muntapha Abas today allowed an application by Teoh Beng Hock's family to exhume the remains for a second post-mortem with no objections from any parties.

The second autopsy will see the participation of renowned Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip Rojansunand.

NONE Pornthip will be unable to conduct the autopsy as only Malaysian doctors can do so as stipulated under the Medical Act 1971.

She will however be allowed to witness and offer suggestions during the procedure.

The coroner also ruled that the second post-mortem should be performed in the presence of University Malaya Medical Centre's Dr Prashant N Samberkar, forensic pathologist Dr Khairul Azman Ibrahim and a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) appointed forensic doctor.

Azmil said the family is at liberty to appoint a pathologist of their choice to conduct the second autopsy.

He set Monday 2pm for the next hearing to decide on the pathologist, time and place of the autopsy.

Pornthip findings significant

In his submissions, Gobind Singh, who is holding a watching brief for Teoh's family, said that he hoped Pornthip would be allowed to present her report on the second autopsy's findings in court and be subjected to cross examination.

"Dr Pornthip has expressed views which to our mind is considerably significant to the outcome of the inquest.

"She should be given the liberty to observe and direct certain investigations during the course of the post-mortem," he told the coroner.

Pornthip had recently told the inquest, held to determine the DAP political aide's cause of death, that there is a 80 percent probability of it being homicide.

Lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, who is representing the Selangor government, told the coroner that the inquest is of public interest, stressing that contradictory views of various pathologists would affect public perception of what has occurred.

As such, he hoped that any potential value of the forensic report be presented to the court and for possible investigations to be carried out.

teoh beng hock inquest 011009 gobind singh Gobind ( right ) said that they are looking at Serdang hospital as the place to conduct the autopsy as it is the nearest location.

He also hoped that the family would resolve religious and cultural issues in preparation to exhume the body.

Due to the urgency of the situation, Gobind said that a government pathologist would have to be appointed to conduct the second autopsy as it would "take time to satisfy procedural requirements under the law should a pathologist from the private sector be chosen".

"Dr Pornthip said that the autopsy should be done within six months. It is almost five months now.

"We have to accede to this and compromise in the interest of all parties," he said.

He added that a forensic pathologist would be the ideal choice as they have better expertise.

Gobind said that Pornthip has expressed willingness to assist with the autopsy and come on Nov 14.

Earlier, Gobind argued that Pornthip be allowed to assist in the second autopsy as she lacked "crucial elements" to validate her theory that there was an 80 percent chance that Teoh's death was due to homicide.

Porthip's qualifications not recognised

However, DPP Abdul Razak Musa objected to Pornthip "assisting" in the post-mortem and suggested that she only "observe" after he cast doubts on Pornthip's medical qualification from Mahidol University as it is not recognised under Malaysia's 1971 Medical Act 50.

"They should get somebody recognised under the law. There are 250 universities listed here yet Mahidol is not one of them.

"Dr Pornthip cannot conduct the autopsy as her qualifications are not recognised here," he said.

"Furthermore, she herself admitted that she has never testified in Malaysia," he added.

He said that the MACC will hire an independent pathologist of their choice to assess the autopsy.

"We will work on that. We will challenge her theories," he told reporters later.

NONE Teoh Lee Lan, Teoh's sister, expressed disappointment that Pornthip was not allowed to conduct the autopsy but she hoped that the second autopsy will reveal the truth.

"Our initial wish is for Dr Pornthip to personally carry out the autopsy," said a tearful Lee to reporters.

She said that the family hopes to now find a suitable pathologist and added that they would consult a feng shui master to identify the suitable date to exhume the body.