PUTRAJAYA, June 19 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), its officers and the Malaysian Government have succeeded in overturning a High Court ruling that held them liable for the tort of malicious prosecution against a former company director and awarded him damages.
A three-member Court of Appeal bench comprising Justices Datuk Azhahari Kamal Ramli, Datuk Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid and Datuk Nadzarin Wok Nordin unanimously allowed the appeals and set aside the High Court’s decisions dated Aug 25, 2023, on liability and May 28, 2024, on the quantum of damages awarded to Nik Mohd Suhaimi Ahmad Ghazali.
Delivering the court’s unanimous decision online, Justice Ahmad Kamal ruled that the tort of malicious prosecution applies only to cases involving abuse of civil process and does not apply to criminal investigation or criminal proceedings.
We find that the legal approach taken by the learned High Court judge in extending the tort of malicious process or abuse of civil process to criminal proceedings is unsustainable and inconsistent with prevailing legal developments in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth jurisdictions,” he said.
The appellate court ruled that there was no legal basis for imposing liability on MACC under the tort of malicious process, particularly after the High Court had dismissed Nik Mohd Suhaimi’s separate claim for malicious prosecution.
Justice Ahmad Kamal noted that although the High Court found, on a balance of probabilities, that Nik Mohd Suhaimi had established claims involving wrongful imprisonment, arrest and harassment, his claim for malicious prosecution had not succeeded.
He added that any allegation involving abuse of criminal proceedings falls within the scope of the tort of malicious prosecution rather than malicious process.
The Court of Appeal also ordered Nik Mohd Suhaimi to pay RM90,000 in costs.
At the same time, the court struck out Nik Mohd Suhaimi’s cross-appeal challenging the dismissal of his malicious prosecution claim on grounds that it was incompetent and dismissed his appeal seeking a higher award for damages.
Nik Mohd Suhaimi had previously filed a civil suit alleging false imprisonment, wrongful arrest and harassment against MACC and its officers, while also pursuing a claim of malicious prosecution against the Public Prosecutor.
He claimed that he had been investigated for alleged bribery, arrested at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya and later brought to the commission’s office in Kuantan.
According to his claim, he was allegedly harassed, threatened, intimidated and pressured to plead guilty. He also alleged that he was handcuffed and brought before the Sessions Court on forgery charges before later being paraded to the media.
The Sessions Court subsequently acquitted and discharged him without calling for his defence. Although the prosecution initially filed an appeal, it was later withdrawn.
On Aug 25, 2023, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled in favour of Nik Mohd Suhaimi on liability and later awarded RM900,000 in damages on May 28, 2024.
However, despite finding that his arrest, detention and prosecution on March 19, 2014 were lawful, the High Court held that the adverse publicity suffered by him caused damage to his life and reputation.
Senior Federal Counsel Liew Horng Bin and Siti Syakimah Ibrahim appeared for MACC and eight other respondents, while Nik Mohd Suhaimi was represented by lawyers Datuk R. Kamalanathan and Vinod Kamalanathan.
— BERNAMA
