A group of 184 Nipah virus victims filed an appeal to the court of appeal today against a high court's decision in dismissing their suit to seek hundred of millions in damages during the deadly virus outbreak six years ago.

Among the reasons cited in the appeal included one that Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Azmel Maamor had erred in fact and/or law in dismissing their case on Feb 5 this year.

In striking out the suit, the high court ruled that all government officers who have caused the damages should be identified and named as co-defendants in the affidavit.

However, the plaintiffs in their appeal today argued that if the high court's decision is followed, it would lead to "the absurd situation" in future.

"... (the absurd situation will be) whenever a body corporate was sought to be held liable in tort for actions of its servants, then all its directors, officers and servants involved in the tort had to be named as defendants to the action," the appeal filed through Ser & Co stated.

A copy of the appeal was obtained by malaysiakini .

RM130 million suit

In 2002, the group of 184 individuals affected by the Nipah outbreak had filed a legal suit totalling more than RM130 million against the federal government and three state governments.

The plaintiffs, who included pig farmers, families of deceased Nipah victims and survivors, named four defendants in their statement of claim. They are the federal government and the Negeri Sembilan, Perak and Selangor state governments.

They were seeking various damages, including special damages for the loss of pigs, damage to their farms, medical and funeral expenses, which amounted to more than RM130 million.

The plaintiffs were also seeking various declarations against the defendants including claims that the governments had breached their duties, committed negligence and fraud and unlawfully deprived the plaintiffs of their fundamental rights in handling the outbreak.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court struck out the suit on February this year but reserved its judgement grounds until recently.

Justice Azmel later explained that the court could not determine whether the federal and the three state governments were responsible for the damages, including culling their pigs, as their officers were not identified and were not called to defend themselves in court.

The Nipah outbreak which started in late September 1998 till May 1999 occurred in various areas in Perak to Negeri Sembilan.

The outbreak was reported to have killed more than 100 people and crippled the pig-farming industry in Bukit Pelanduk, Negeri Sembilan, which is believed to be the biggest in Southeast Asia.