Businessman given nod to appeal against decision reinstating lawsuit filed against him

PUTRAJAYA: The Federal Court here has allowed businessman Deepak Jaikishan to appeal against a Court of Appeal's decision in reinstating a lawsuit which was filed against him by the widow of late private investigator P. Balasubramaniam.
In a unanimous decision today, a three-man bench chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya, Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin granted Deepak leave to appeal on three legal questions to be decided by the Federal Court.
Federal Court judges Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop and Datuk Azahar Mohamed were the other two judges presiding on the panel.
Zulkefli also instructed that an early hearing date be fixed for the businessman's appeal and also instructed Deepak's lawyer to file the court documents as soon as possible to which his (Deepak's) lawyer, Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah replied that he would be filing the papers by next week.
The court also allowed Muhammad Shafee's application for a stay of the trial of the lawsuit at the High Court, pending disposal of Deepak's appeal in the Federal Court.

The three questions of law are:
Whether, as a matter of procedural law, an objection pertaining to a notice of appeal being defective and/or bad in law can be undertaken by way of a mere
preliminary objection; whether, the filing of a single notice of appeal in respect of eight separate and distinct interlocutory applications is in compliance with the procedural rules as set out in Rules of Court of Appeal 1995; and, whether, as a matter of law a claim in conspiracy to injure can be maintained and/or is valid when the claims against all other alleged co-conspirators has been dismissed and/or struck out, inter-alia, on the basis that there was no reasonable cause of action raised by Santamil Selvi.
Meanwhile, A. Santamil Selvi's bid for leave to appeal against the decision of another Court of Appeal in setting aside a consent order to remit her civil
suit against Deepak to the High Court for trial, has been adjourned to another date.
The consent order was related to the consent given by Jaikishen to send the civil suit back to the High Court.
Zulkefli allowed the application brought by Santamil Selvi's counsel, Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram for an adjournment of his client's bid to obtain leave to appeal, pending outcome of the Federal Court's decision in Deepak's appeal.
On Dec 18, last year, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Santamil Selvi to reinstate her civil suit against Deepak and for her to proceed with the suit in
her personal capacity, and not on behalf of her late husband.
Deepak was one of nine defendants sued by Santamil Selvi and her children over their claim for losses suffered during their stay out of the country for 56 months from July 4, 2008 to March 15, 2013, when Balasubramaniam died of a heart attack after returning from India.
The rest were Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, two of his (Najib's) brothers, Datuk Ahmad Johari and Datuk Mohd Nazim, lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham and son, Sunil, commissioner of oath Zainal Abidin Muhayat and lawyer M. Arunampalam.
On April 24 last year, Santamil Selvi and her children lost in their final bid at the Federal Court to restore their civil suit against the eight of them, which was struck out by the High Court.
In their statement of claim, she said her husband was forced to withdraw his first statutory declaration made on July 1, 2008, pertaining to certain facts in the murder of Mongolian woman, Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Santamil Selvi and her children had sought damages amounting to RM840,000, including for rental of an apartment in Chennai, India, the children's school
fees and her loss of income as a kindergarten teacher, housing loan, transport costs, general damages, special damages and costs. — Bernama