Arifin Zakaria JCA:

Background

[1] This is an appeal from the decision of the learned High Court Judge, Melaka dismissing the plaintiff's claim with costs. In this Judgment I will refer to the respective parties as Plaintiff and Defendants. This appeal was heard by this Court on 31 July 2003 where I sat with my learned brothers (JJCA) Abdul Kadir Sulaiman and Richard Malanjum. By a unanimous decision we allowed the plaintiff's appeal with costs both here and in the Court below. We made an order in terms of prayers (1) and (2) of the claim coupled with other consequential orders. It was not until recently that I have been asked to write this Judgment. This explains the unnecessarily long delay in writing this Judgment.

The Facts

[2] The facts relevant to this appeal are briefly as follows. The plaintiff was at all material times a member of the Royal Malaysian Police Force holding the rank of Police Inspector By a letter dated 31 July 1993, the 1st Defendant directed the plaintiff to show cause why disciplinary action with a view to his dismissal ought not be taken against him. Six charges were levelled against him for corruption, dereliction of duties, failure to report gamblin