The Kuala Lumpur High Court has struck out today a motion from the wife of the late Baharudin Ahmad to direct the magistrate to hold an inquest on her husband’s sudden death at the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally.

NONE Justice Su Geok Yiam described  Rosni Malan's application as premature, frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process.

"This is because there is nothing before the magistrate’s court to decide," she said.

"Following this, the High Court allows a preliminary objection by the DPP representing the respondents in the case," she said.

Rosni ( right ) had named the Kuala Lumpur chief police officer, the inspector-general of police, the Kuala Lumpur magistrate and the public prosecutor as respondents.

Rosni had in her notice of motion applied:

- that all reports and documentation related to the postmortem performed on Baharudin be supplied to the lawyers of the applicants;

- all police reports adn statements taken from the witnesses and other relevant documents be given to the lawyers;

- that the court order an inquiry under the Criminal Procedure Code as soon as possible over Baharudin's death; and

- other relief deemed necessary by the court.

PP not decided on inquest

Earlier, DPP Jamil Aripin told the court that it is not that the public prosecutor rejects the holding of an inquest, but is of the stand that the nature of the motion was not accordance to the law.

He had submitted that the public prosecutor's office had received reports from the police over the death but whether investigations had been completed or not has yet to be determined.

"Hence, the notice of motion is premature as the public prosecutor has not made any decision on whether or not to hold the inquest as it is still under consideration," he added.

However, Rosni's lawyer, Ahmad Jufliz Faizal, in applying for a postponement of today's proceedings after being informed of the latest development, submitted ttht they were not informed of the preliminary objection to the motion during the sitting for case management.

 He pointed out that under the Special Relief Act, the magistrate's court can call for an inquest as it is not necessary to await the public prosecutor's application to do so.

"The court has wide jurisdiction to order an inquiry be held after getting reports from the police," he pointed out.

Furthermore, he said Baharudin's wife and his family had furnished all details ,including Baharudin's son and daughter's statements as required in August.

"The court as a fountain of justice should not let the motion be set-aside and allow the applicant to get to the bottom of the matter as there were discrepancies in the post mortem report with what was reported in the media as to the cause of death," he said.

Discrepancies over Baharudin's death

Ahmad Jufliz told reporters after the proceeding that he would seek further instructions on whether to appeal today's decision.

He added that while the then Kuala Lumpur acting police chief announced the cause of death as heart attack, the post mortem report stated it was pending laboratory analysis.

"Baharudin also suffered three fracture to his ribs and the teeth also broke when there were no such injuries before he attended the rally," said Ahmad Jufliz.

In Rosni's supporting affidavit, a witness by the name of A Rajaratnam had claimed he had sought assistance from police to call for an abulance but there was no response from the police.

There was also a video clip screened in Bukit Aman and also over television a figure supposed to be Baharudin entering K Avenue but Rosni claimed that was not her husband.

Ahmad Jufliz said he will write to the Attorney General Chambers, giving them seven days to reply on whether they want to hold an inquest and the results of the investigations.

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