Najib, eight others in bid to prevent PI Bala’s expose

By admin-s On Oct 14, 2014

The Malaysian Insider learnt that if the prime minister and the eight others are successful in striking out the suit, then the merits of the case will never be known to the public.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor are among nine defendants attempting to strike out a suit filed by the late P. Balasubramaniam’s family which would expose their alleged roles in sending the late private detective, his wife and kids into forced exile.

Lawyer Americk Singh, who is appearing for Balasubramaniam’s widow, A. Santamil Selvi and their three children, told The Malaysian Insider the hearing has been set for November 20 before High Court judge Datuk Hasnah Mohammed Hashim.

Among the grounds cited by the defendants are that Balasubramaniam’s family had no reasonable cause of action, that their action was an abuse of the court process and it is scandalous, frivolous and vexatious.

The Malaysian Insider learnt that if the prime minister and the eight others are successful in striking out the suit, then the merits of the case will never be known to the public.

This would include why Balasubramaniam was forced to retract his first sworn statement and why he and his family were forced to leave the country and settle down in India.

Santamil and her children are suing for losses suffered during their exile between July 2008 and early last year following Balasubramaniam’s retraction of his first statutory declaration (SD).

Balasubramaniam died of a heart attack on March 15, 2013, weeks after returning from India.

Apart from Najib and Rosmah, the other defendants in the suit are Najib’s brothers Datuk Ahmad Johari Abdul Razak and Datuk Mohd Nazim Abdul Razak, senior lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham, his son Sunil Abraham, commissioner for oaths Zainal Abidin Muhayat, lawyer M. Arunapalam and carpet dealer Deepak Jaikshan.

In the suit, the family said the defendants caused Balasubramaniam’s second SD “to be drafted without the instructions of the deceased and further caused the deceased to sign the same under threat and inducement”.

Balasubramaniam, or famously known as PI Bala, was a witness in the murder trial of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. He left Malaysia in a hurry after he signed a second SD in 2008, which purportedly cleared Najib of involvement in the case.