The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya today upheld a High Court’s dismissal of a civil suit which was filed against the police by a sibling of a toddy shop assistant who died five years ago in police custody.

A three-member panel chaired by Justice Zaharah Ibrahim unanimously dismissed R Ganga Gouri's appeal which she had filed in her bid to overturn a High Court’s decision.

“We find that the High Court had applied the correct principles of law and made the correct decision,” said Justice Zaharah, who presided on the panel with Justices Mah Weng Kwai and Varghese George Varughese.

The court also dismissed Ganga Gouri’s appeal against a High Court’s decision in disallowing her to include another party - Abu Bakar Lajis, the person in charge of a mortuary - as defendant in her civil suit.

Justice Zaharah did not make any order with regard to costs.

Ganga Gouri had filed the suit on July 13, 2012, naming former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan, the government of Malaysia, Sentul police chief ACP Zakaria Pagan, ASP Mohamad Idris Omar and seven policemen attached to Sentul police, as well as he custodian of the body at the Forensics Department of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital (HKL), as defendants.

In her statement of claim, Ganga Gouri alleged that the death of her brother, R Gunasegaran, at the Sentul police station lock-up on July 16, 2009, was as a result of negligence of seven policemen in the course of carrying out their duties.

Gunasegaran, 31, collapsed while being fingerprinted between 6.45pm and 7pm and died at Hospital Kuala Lumpur at 7.40pm the same day.

Ganga Gouri sought general, special and aggravated damages, interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.

On Oct 25, 2010, a Coroner’s Court delivered an open verdict in an inquest which was held to determine Gunasegaran’s  cause of death and its decision was upheld by the High Court on July 19, 2013.

The Coroner’s Court found that his death was likely due to injuries sustained after being beaten up and kicked or overdose of Chloroquine drug.

Ganga Gouri subsequently filed an application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal against the decision, but failed last year to obtain the leave from the court.

Ganga Gouri was represented by lawyer M Visvanathan, while senior federal counsel Azizan Arshad and federal counsel Nurhasmanita Abdul Manap and Nur Aqilah Ishak represented the respondents.

- Bernama