The Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur has instructed the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and private firm Nuemera (M) Sdn Bhd to file their defence in a suit brought against them by PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil.

The suit concerns the leak of the personal data of more than 46.2 million telecommunications users in Malaysia.

The directive was made by Sessions judge Harmi Thamri Mohamad following its first case management.

This was disclosed by Fahmi's lawyer Louis Liaw today, who added that the next case management has been fixed for March 22.

Read more: Massive data leak trail leads to MCMC's phone blocking system

In his statement of claim, Fahmi said he had registered three lines with two different telephone companies, for which he had given his personal data.

He claimed that the MCMC has a statutory duty to regulate, monitor and supervise internet and multimedia content, and provide protection to users.

The second defendant, Nuemera, is a company based in Petaling Jaya.

Fahmi (photo) said that in 2014, Nuemera had been appointed by MCMC to handle the agency’s public cellular blocking service, and all personal data of telecommunications customers had been kept by the company.

Sometime within that same year, MCMC and the company are alleged to have caused a leak of the personal data.

The leak was widely reported by the media in October 2017, after an attempt by an unknown user to sell the data on popular website and technology portal Lowyat.net's forum.

In his originating summons, Fahmi said his personal particulars were found to have been leaked and could be accessed on several websites.

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 The politician claimed that MCMC and Nuemera had violated their duties, resulting in the data leak and failure to ensure the security of personal details.

He also claimed the defendants had failed to inform him and other customers of the leak, or of Nuemera’s appointment and its alleged mismanagement of customers’ data.

Fahmi further claimed the two defendants had failed in their duty of care towards the data, hence resulting in the leaks.

Therefore, he is seeking general damages and costs of the action, besides other reliefs deemed necessary by the court.