Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai is in the dark over the Department of Civil Aviation's attempts to remove itself as a party in the suits by the next-of-kin of MH370 victims.

When asked in the Parliament lobby over such efforts made by the DCA and government to remove themselves as parties in the suits, Liow said he did not get any information on this.

“I did not hear any report from the (DCA) director-general (Azharuddin Abdul Rahman). (Could this be) hearsay maybe?” Liow asked.

Some 28 suits had been filed in Malaysian courts regarding the disappearance of MH370 exactly three years ago today, and in each application the DCA has been named a party, besides the government, Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (old company, MAS) and Malaysia Airlines Bhd (new company, MAB).

However, the DCA and government, and the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) in certain suits, had applied to remove themselves as defendants. 

Commenting on this development, Sangeet Kaur Deo, who is one of the lawyers involved in the case, said this clearly showed Liow had been misinformed.

“The minister should be more aware of the position the government is taking in court.

“Who is instructing the Attorney-General's Chambers on this (issue)? How is it that he (Liow) doesn't know. This is ridiculous,” she said.

Sangeet is the lead counsel for the family of Malaysian couple Tan Ah Meng, 46, and wife Chuang Hsiu Ling @ Cindy Chuang, 45, and eldest son Tan Wei Chew, 16, who were on board the ill-fated flight.

On their appeal, the Court of Appeal agreed to reinstate the DCA as a party to the suit.

Now, Sangeet said the matter is pending DCA's appeal at the Federal Court.

Similarly, with other cases related to MH370, DCA and the government had or are making attempts to remove themselves as parties to the suit, and in some cases, the new national carrier MAB was also applying to do so.

It was reported in Sangeet's case that the Federal Court granted leave for five plaintiffs, including two Malaysian teenagers whose parents were on board the March 8, 2014, flight to pose a question of law on the liability of the new national carrier for the tragedy, after it took over from the old one.